# CVE-2023-22394: Junos OS: SRX Series and MX Series: Memory leak due to receipt of specially crafted SIP calls

> An attacker can cause a memory leak and denial of service by sending specially crafted SIP calls to Juniper SRX and MX devices with SIP ALG enabled.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Jan 2023
- **Updated:** 7 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8hr2-28vp-mgr9

## What is CVE-2023-22394?

CVE-2023-22394 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 12 Jan 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Improper Handling of Unexpected Data Type vulnerability in the handling of SIP calls in Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series platforms allows an attacker to cause a memory leak leading to Denial of Services (DoS). This issue occurs on all MX Series platforms with MS-MPC or MS-MIC card and all SRX Series platforms where SIP ALG is enabled. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability prevents additional SIP calls and applications from succeeding. The SIP ALG needs to be enabled, either implicitly / by default or by way of configuration. To confirm whether SIP ALG is enabled on SRX use the following command: user@host> show security alg status | match sip SIP : Enabled This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and on MX Series: All versions prior to 19.3R3-S7; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S8, 19.4R3-S10; 20.1 versions 20.1R1 and later versions; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S6; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S6; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S5; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S1; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2-S2, 21.4R3; 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R1-S2, 22.1R2, 22.1R3-S1. This issue does not affect Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and on MX Series: All versions prior to 18.2R1.

Weakness: CWE-911 (Improper Update of Reference Count)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-22394?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Juniper Junos.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-22394?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-22394 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-22394 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-22394 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-2023-22394 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-22394 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 12 Jan 2023. 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-2023-22394 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-2023-22394/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22394/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22394
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22394
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-22394

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22394/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.