# CVE-2023-36832: Junos OS: MX Series: PFE crash upon receipt of specific packet destined to an AMS interface

> Unauthenticated attackers can crash the packet forwarding engine on Juniper MX Series devices by sending specific packets to AMS interfaces, causing denial of service.

- **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:** 14 Jul 2023
- **Updated:** 7 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6q8j-vvjq-vhjc

## What is CVE-2023-36832?

CVE-2023-36832 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 14 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in packet processing of Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series allows an unauthenticated network-based attacker to send specific packets to an Aggregated Multiservices (AMS) interface on the device, causing the packet forwarding engine (PFE) to crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).  Continued receipt and processing of this packet will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition.

This issue is only triggered by packets destined to a local-interface via a service-interface (AMS).  AMS is only supported on the MS-MPC, MS-MIC, and MX-SPC3 cards.  This issue is not experienced on other types of interfaces or configurations.  Additionally, transit traffic does not trigger this issue.

This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series:
All versions prior to 19.1R3-S10;
19.2 versions prior to 19.2R3-S7;
19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S8;
19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S12;
20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S8;
20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S7;
21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S5;
21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S5;
21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S4;
21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S3;
22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S2;
22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3;
22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S1, 22.3R3;
22.4 versions prior to 22.4R1-S2, 22.4R2.

Weakness: CWE-755 (Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-36832?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Juniper Junos.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-36832?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-36832 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-36832 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-36832 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-2023-36832 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-36832 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 14 Jul 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-2023-36832 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-2023-36832/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36832/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-36832
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-36832
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-36832

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36832/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.