CVE-2026-21911 Junos OS Evolved: Flapping management interface causes MAC learning on label-switched interfaces to stop
An unauthenticated attacker can cause high CPU usage and stop MAC learning by flapping the management interface on Junos OS Evolved devices.
- 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-2026-21911?
CVE-2026-21911 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Junos Os Evolved, published on 15 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
An Incorrect Calculation vulnerability in the Layer 2 Control
Protocol
Daemon (l2cpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved allows an unauthenticated network-adjacent attacker flapping the management interface to cause the learning of new MACs over label-switched interfaces (LSI) to stop while generating a flood of logs, resulting in high CPU usage.
When the issue is seen, the following log message will be generated:
op:1 flag:0x6 mac:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx bd:2 ifl:13302 reason:0(REASON_NONE) i-op:6(INTRNL_OP_HW_FORCE_DELETE) status:10 lstatus:10 err:26(GETIFBD_VALIDATE_FAILED) err-reason 4(IFBD_VALIDATE_FAIL_EPOCH_MISMATCH) hw_wr:0x4 ctxsync:0 fwdsync:0 rtt-id:51 p_ifl:0 fwd_nh:0 svlbnh:0 event:- smask:0x100000000 dmask:0x0 mplsmask 0x1 act:0x5800 extf:0x0 pfe-id 0 hw-notif-ifl 13302 programmed-ifl 4294967295 pseudo-vtep underlay-ifl-idx 0 stack:GET_MAC, ALLOCATE_MAC, GET_IFL, GET_IFF, GET_IFBD, STOP,
This issue affects Junos OS Evolved:
* all versions before 21.4R3-S7-EVO, * from 22.2 before 22.2R3-S4-EVO, * from 22.3 before 22.3R3-S3-EVO, * from 22.4 before 22.4R3-S2-EVO, * from 23.2 before 23.2R2-S1-EVO, * from 23.4 before 23.4R1-S2-EVO, 23.4R2-EVO.
Weakness: CWE-682
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-21911?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Juniper Junos Os Evolved.
How do I fix CVE-2026-21911?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-21911 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-21911 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-21911 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Juniper Junos Os Evolved
- CVE-2026-21902 Junos OS Evolved: PTX Series: A vulnerability allows a unauthenticated, network-based attacker to execute code as root
- CVE-2023-28983 Junos OS Evolved: Shell Injection vulnerability in the gNOI server
- CVE-2025-21599 Denial of service in Junos OS Evolved
- CVE-2024-47502 Junos OS Evolved: TCP session state is not always cleared on the Routing Engine leading to DoS
- CVE-2024-39531 Junos OS Evolved: ACX 7000 Series: Protocol specific DDoS configuration affects other protocols
Sources
Also known as GHSA-6fvr-r66p-5w4v.