CVE-2023-28984 Junos OS: QFX Series: The PFE may crash when a lot of MAC addresses are being learned and aged
An adjacent attacker can cause a denial of service on Juniper QFX switches by triggering a use-after-free condition during MAC address learning and aging.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2023-28984?
CVE-2023-28984 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 17 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A Use After Free vulnerability in the Layer 2 Address Learning Manager (l2alm) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on QFX Series allows an adjacent attacker to cause the Packet Forwarding Engine to crash and restart, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS). The PFE may crash when a lot of MAC learning and aging happens, but due to a Race Condition (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization) that is outside the attackers direct control. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS versions prior to 19.4R3-S10 on QFX Series; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S7 on QFX Series; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S6 on QFX Series; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5 on QFX Series; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4 on QFX Series; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S3 on QFX Series; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S3 on QFX Series; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3 on QFX Series; 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3 on QFX Series; 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R2 on QFX Series.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-28984?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Juniper Junos.
How do I fix CVE-2023-28984?
No fix has been published for CVE-2023-28984 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2023-28984 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-28984 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Juniper Junos
- CVE-2023-36845 Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification
- CVE-2020-1631 Juniper Junos OS Path Traversal
- CVE-2025-21590 Juniper Junos OS Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization
- CVE-2023-36851 Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function
- CVE-2023-36844 Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification
Sources
Also known as GHSA-vx3w-5gr7-767w.