Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:Y/R:A/V:C/RE:M/U:AmberSummary
CVE-2025-21598 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Juniper Junos. Its CVSS base score is 8.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-21598 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125) in the routing protocol daemon (rpd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved. It affects Junos OS versions from 21.2R3-S8 before 21.2R3-S9, 21.4R3-S7 before 21.4R3-S9, 22.2R3-S4 before 22.2R3-S5, 22.3R3-S2 before 22.3R3-S4, 22.4R3 before 22.4R3-S5, 23.2R2 before 23.2R2-S2, 23.4R1 before 23.4R2-S1, and 24.2R1 before 24.2R1-S1 or 24.2R2; and corresponding Junos OS Evolved versions from 21.4R3-S7-EVO before 21.4R3-S9-EVO through 24.2R2-EVO. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
An unauthenticated, network-based attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed BGP packets to a targeted device configured with BGP packet receive trace options enabled, causing the rpd process to crash. Exploitation requires an established BGP session and affects both iBGP and eBGP over IPv4 and IPv6. Malformed packets can propagate and multiply across multiple autonomous systems until they reach vulnerable devices.
The Juniper security advisory at https://supportportal.juniper.net/JSA92867 details the affected versions and recommends upgrading to the listed fixed releases. Documentation on BGP traceoptions configuration is available at https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/junos/cli-reference/topics/ref/statement/traceoptions-edit-protocols-bgp.html. Indicators of compromise include log messages on neighboring unaffected devices, such as "rpd[<pid>]: Received malformed update from <IP address> (External AS <AS#>) " and "rpd[<pid>]: Malformed Attribute", which may appear in proximity to multiple devices.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-2564
Vulnerability Data
An Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved's routing protocol daemon (rpd) allows an unauthenticated, network-based attacker to send malformed BGP packets to a device configured with packet receive trace options enabled to crash rpd.…
more
This issue affects: Junos OS: * from 21.2R3-S8 before 21.2R3-S9, * from 21.4R3-S7 before 21.4R3-S9, * from 22.2R3-S4 before 22.2R3-S5, * from 22.3R3-S2 before 22.3R3-S4, * from 22.4R3 before 22.4R3-S5, * from 23.2R2 before 23.2R2-S2, * from 23.4R1 before 23.4R2-S1, * from 24.2R1 before 24.2R1-S1, 24.2R2. Junos OS Evolved: * from 21.4R3-S7-EVO before 21.4R3-S9-EVO, * from 22.2R3-S4-EVO before 22.2R3-S5-EVO, * from 22.3R3-S2-EVO before 22.3R3-S4-EVO, * from 22.4R3-EVO before 22.4R3-S5-EVO, * from 23.2R2-EVO before 23.2R2-S2-EVO, * from 23.4R1-EVO before 23.4R2-S1-EVO, * from 24.2R1-EVO before 24.2R1-S2-EVO, 24.2R2-EVO. This issue requires a BGP session to be established. This issue can propagate and multiply through multiple ASes until reaching vulnerable devices. This issue affects iBGP and eBGP. This issue affects IPv4 and IPv6. An indicator of compromise may be the presence of malformed update messages in a neighboring AS which is unaffected by this issue: For example, by issuing the command on the neighboring device: show log messages Reviewing for similar messages from devices within proximity to each other may indicate this malformed packet is propagating: rpd[<pid>]: Received malformed update from <IP address> (External AS <AS#>) and rpd[<pid>]: Malformed Attribute
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.
Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.
Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.
Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.
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.
Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.
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.
Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.