# CVE-2023-44181: Junos OS: QFX5k: l2 loop in the overlay impacts the stability in a EVPN/VXLAN environment

> Attackers can cause denial of service on Juniper QFX5k switches by triggering L2 loops via ICMPv6 packets when storm control is 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 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 18 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9jrm-qw53-pvvc

## What is CVE-2023-44181?

CVE-2023-44181 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 12 Oct 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard vulnerability in storm control of Juniper Networks Junos OS QFX5k devices allows packets to be punted to ARP queue causing a l2 loop resulting in a DDOS violations and DDOS syslog.

This issue is triggered when Storm control is enabled and ICMPv6 packets are present on device.

This issue affects Juniper Networks:

Junos OS

  *  All versions prior to 20.2R3-S6 on QFX5k;
  *  20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S5 on QFX5k;
  *  20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5 on QFX5k;
  *  21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4 on QFX5k;
  *  21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S3 on QFX5k;
  *  21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S2 on QFX5k;
  *  21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3 on QFX5k;
  *  22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3 on QFX5k;
  *  22.2 versions prior to 22.2R2 on QFX5k.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-44181?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Juniper Junos.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-44181?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-44181 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-44181 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-44181 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-2023-44181 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-44181 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos, published on 12 Oct 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-2023-44181 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-2023-44181/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-44181/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-44181
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-44181
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-44181

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-44181/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.