# CVE-2021-31361: Denial of service in Junos OS

> An unauthenticated attacker can cause a partial denial of service on Juniper QFX and PTX switches by sending specific VXLAN-encapsulated IP packets.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7fwx-jjqr-3gxq

## What is CVE-2021-31361?

CVE-2021-31361 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 19 Oct 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions vulnerability combined with Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions in Juniper Networks Junos OS on QFX Series and PTX Series allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause increased FPC CPU utilization by sending specific IP packets which are being VXLAN encapsulated leading to a partial Denial of Service (DoS). Continued receipted of these specific traffic will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS on QFX Series: All versions prior to 17.3R3-S11; 17.4 versions prior to 17.4R2-S13, 17.4R3-S4; 18.1 versions prior to 18.1R3-S12; 18.2 versions prior to 18.2R2-S8, 18.2R3-S7; 18.3 versions prior to 18.3R3-S4; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R1-S8, 18.4R2-S7, 18.4R3-S7; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R1-S6, 19.1R2-S2, 19.1R3-S4; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S6, 19.2R3-S2; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S1; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S3, 19.4R3-S1; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R2, 20.1R3; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R2, 20.2R3; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R1-S1, 20.3R2. Juniper Networks Junos OS on PTX Series: All versions prior to 18.4R3-S9; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R3-S6; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S7, 19.2R3-S3; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R2-S6, 19.3R3-S3; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R1-S4, 19.4R3-S5; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R2-S2, 20.1R3; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S1; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R2-S1, 20.3R3; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R2-S1, 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R1-S1, 21.1R2.

Weakness: CWE-755 (Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions), CWE-754 (Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-31361?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Juniper Junos.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-31361?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-31361 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-31361 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-31361 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Juniper Junos

- [CVE-2023-36845](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36845/): Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-1631](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1631/): Juniper Junos OS Path Traversal (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-21590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21590/): Juniper Junos OS Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization (medium 6.7, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-36851](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36851/): Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-36844](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36844/): Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-31361 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-31361 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 19 Oct 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-31361 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Juniper Junos. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31361/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31361/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-31361
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-31361
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-31361

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31361/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.