# CVE-2023-44198: Junos OS: SRX Series and MX Series: SIP ALG doesn't drop specifically malformed retransmitted SIP packets

> An unauthenticated attacker can bypass SIP ALG filtering by sending malformed retransmitted packets, allowing invalid traffic to pass through SRX and MX devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **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-rjm7-96c8-22jg

## What is CVE-2023-44198?

CVE-2023-44198 is a medium-severity 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 Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in the SIP ALG of Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series allows an unauthenticated network-based attacker to cause an integrity impact in connected networks.

If the SIP ALG is configured and a device receives a specifically malformed SIP packet, the device prevents this packet from being forwarded, but any subsequently received retransmissions of the same packet are forwarded as if they were valid.

This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on SRX Series and MX Series:

  *  20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S5;
  *  21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4;
  *  21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S4;
  *  21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S3;
  *  21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S2;
  *  22.1 versions prior to 22.1R2-S2, 22.1R3;
  *  22.2 versions prior to 22.2R2-S1, 22.2R3;
  *  22.3 versions prior to 22.3R1-S2, 22.3R2.

This issue doesn't not affected releases prior to 20.4R1.

Weakness: CWE-754 (Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-44198?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Juniper Junos.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-44198?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-44198 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-44198 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-44198 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-2023-44198 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-44198 is a medium-severity 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-2023-44198 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-2023-44198/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-44198/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-44198
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-44198
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-44198

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-44198/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.