Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-28980

Memory Safety in Juniper Junos 20.2 … 22.1

Published
17 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0017 7th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-28980 is a medium-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Juniper Junos. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A Use After Free vulnerability in the routing protocol daemon of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a locally authenticated attacker with low privileges to cause Denial of Service (DoS). In a rib sharding scenario the rpd…

more

process will crash shortly after specific CLI command is issued. This issue is more likely to occur in a scenario with high route scale (>1M routes). This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS * 20.2 version 20.2R3-S5 and later versions prior to 20.2R3-S6; * 20.3 version 20.3R3-S2 and later versions prior to 20.3R3-S5; * 20.4 version 20.4R3-S1 and later versions prior to 20.4R3-S4 * 21.1 version 21.1R3 and later versions prior to 21.1R3-S3; * 21.2 version 21.2R1-S2, 21.2R2-S1 and later versions prior to 21.2R3-S2; * 21.3 version 21.3R2 and later versions prior to 21.3R3; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R2-S1, 21.4R3; * 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R2. Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved * 20.4-EVO version 20.4R3-S1-EVO and later versions prior to 20.4R3-S6-EVO; * 21.2-EVO version 21.2R1-S2-EVO and later versions prior to 21.2R3-S4-EVO; * 21.3-EVO version 21.3R2-EVO and later versions prior to 21.3R3-S1-EVO; * 21.4-EVO versions prior to 21.4R2-S1-EVO, 21.4R3-EVO; * 22.1-EVO versions prior to 22.1R2-EVO.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-52946Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2024-30386Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2024-39528Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2026-21921Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2026-21908Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2023-22402Same product: Juniper Junos Os Evolved
CVE-2023-36833Same product: Juniper Junos Os Evolved
CVE-2024-30378Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2023-28984Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2025-1916Shared CWE-416

Affected Assets

juniper
junos
20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 21.1, 21.2
juniper
junos os evolved
20.4, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 22.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

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 incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References