CVE-2023-44203
Juniper Junos ≤ 20.4
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-44203 is a medium-severity Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions (CWE-703) vulnerability in Juniper Junos. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-48562
Vulnerability Data
An Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in the Packet Forwarding Engine (pfe) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on QFX5000 Series, EX2300, EX3400, EX4100, EX4400 and EX4600 allows a adjacent attacker to send specific traffic, which leads to…
more
packet flooding, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). When a specific IGMP packet is received in an isolated VLAN, it is duplicated to all other ports under the primary VLAN, which causes a flood. This issue affects QFX5000 series, EX2300, EX3400, EX4100, EX4400 and EX4600 platforms only. This issue affects Juniper Junos OS on on QFX5000 Series, EX2300, EX3400, EX4100, EX4400 and EX4600: * All versions prior to 20.4R3-S5; * 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R3-S4; * 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S3; * 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5; * 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S2; * 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3; * 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3; * 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Implements explicit check and handling for the exceptional condition of audit logging process failure.
Establishing and monitoring system metrics with correlation and response actions helps identify and address improper handling of exceptional conditions.
Provides a defined response to detected conditions by restricting operation, ensuring exceptional conditions are handled rather than ignored or mishandled.
Contingency training equips users with defined procedures to check and respond to exceptional conditions during disruptions, reducing exploitation of mishandled errors.
Testing verifies the system's ability to detect, handle, and recover from exceptional conditions as part of the plan, reducing exploitability of improper exception handling.
Regular updates keep contingency procedures aligned with system changes, providing structured handling for exceptional conditions that would otherwise allow unmitigated exploitation.
Policy defines checks and handling for exceptional conditions arising from security incidents.
Performing IR tests ensures exceptional conditions are properly checked and handled to enable effective response.
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.
A.8.26 only requires that security requirements (including resilience against attacks like SQL injection) be identified and specified during development or acquisition; it does not itself remove, fix, or eliminate any exceptional-condition handling defects already present in code.
A.8.28 mandates secure coding practices, principles, defect removal during coding/review, and prohibiting insecure techniques that directly produce improper exception handling; this removes most instances of the first-party code defect, with a bounded remainder in incomplete adoption or edge-case defects not captured by the baseline.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-703, a pillar-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.