Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-28961

Juniper Junos ≤ 20.2

Published
17 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0042 35th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-28961 is a medium-severity Improper Handling of Unexpected Data Type (CWE-241) vulnerability in Juniper Junos. Its CVSS base score is 5.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 35th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An Improper Handling of Unexpected Data Type vulnerability in IPv6 firewall filter processing of Juniper Networks Junos OS on the ACX Series devices will prevent a firewall filter with the term 'from next-header ah' from being properly installed in the…

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packet forwarding engine (PFE). There is no immediate indication of an incomplete firewall filter commit shown at the CLI, which could allow an attacker to send valid packets to or through the device that were explicitly intended to be dropped. An indication that the filter was not installed can be identified with the following logs: fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_rule_prepare : Config failed: Unsupported Ip-protocol 51 in the filter lo0.0-inet6-i fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_rule_prepare : Please detach the filter, remove unsupported match and re-attach fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_process_rule : Status:104 dnx_dfw_rule_prepare failed fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_process_filter : Status:104 dnx_dfw_process_rule failed fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_update_filter_in_hw : Status:104 Could not process filter(lo0.0-inet6-i) for rule expansion Unsupported match, action present. fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_create_hw_instance : Status:104 Could not program dfw(lo0.0-inet6-i) type(IFP_DFLT_INET6_Lo0_FILTER)! [104] fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_bind_shim : [104] Could not create dfw(lo0.0-inet6-i) type(IFP_DFLT_INET6_Lo0_FILTER) fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_update_resolve : [100] Failed to bind filter(3) to bind point fpc0 ACX_DFW_CFG_FAILED: ACX Error (dfw):dnx_dfw_change_end : dnx_dfw_update_resolve (resolve type) failed This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS on ACX Series: All versions prior to 20.2R3-S7; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R3-S4; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S3; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S4; 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3; 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3; 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R2.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-52947Same product: Juniper Acx1000
CVE-2026-57032Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2025-52949Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2023-28964Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2025-30659Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2023-22399Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2025-21591Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2026-21903Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2024-39511Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2023-44204Same product: Juniper Junos

Affected Assets

juniper
junos
20.2, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3 · ≤ 20.2

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper input validation and type checking to prevent this weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect type-handling flaws but does not itself implement the preventive control.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes input validation and type checking that directly mitigates improper handling of unexpected data types.

prevents

Application security requirements typically mandate strong input validation and type enforcement to prevent malformed data processing.

prevents

Secure system architecture principles encourage robust input handling but do not specifically address data-type validation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require type checking and input sanitization, directly addressing improper handling of unexpected data types.

References