Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-21921

Memory Safety in Juniper Junos ≤ 22.4

Published
15 January 2026
Modified
23 January 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 7.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/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:X/RE:M/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0034 26th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-21921 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Juniper Junos. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A Use After Free vulnerability in the chassis daemon (chassisd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a network-based attacker authenticated with low privileges to cause a Denial-of-Service (DoS). When telemetry collectors are frequently subscribing and unsubscribing…

more

to sensors continuously over a long period of time, telemetry-capable processes like chassisd, rpd or mib2d will crash and restart, which - depending on the process - can cause a complete outage until the system has recovered. This issue affects: Junos OS: * all versions before 22.4R3-S8, * 23.2 versions before 23.2R2-S5, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2; Junos OS Evolved: * all versions before 22.4R3-S8-EVO, * 23.2 versions before 23.2R2-S5-EVO, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-EVO.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Why these techniques?

UAF in chassisd directly enables remote authenticated DoS via process crash (T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-52946Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2024-30386Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2024-39528Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2026-21908Same product: Juniper Junos
CVE-2023-28980Same 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-2024-56772Shared CWE-416

Affected Assets

juniper
junos
22.4, 23.2, 23.4 · ≤ 22.4
juniper
junos os evolved
22.4, 23.2, 23.4 · ≤ 22.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-4 System Monitoring
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires applying vendor patches that eliminate the use-after-free flaw in chassisd and related telemetry processes.

prevent

Enforces access-control decisions on telemetry sensor subscription interfaces so that only explicitly authorized principals may perform repeated subscribe/unsubscribe operations.

detect

Monitors for anomalous telemetry subscription patterns and resulting daemon crashes, enabling early detection of exploitation attempts against the vulnerable processes.

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