CVE-2026-33774
Juniper Junos ≤ 23.2
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/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:U/V:X/RE:L/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-33774 is a medium-severity Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (CWE-754) vulnerability in Juniper Junos. Its CVSS base score is 6.9 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 7th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SC-7 (Boundary Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-21195
Vulnerability Data
An Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in the packet forwarding engine (pfe) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series allows an unauthenticated, network-based attacker to bypass the configured firewall filter and access the control-plane of the…
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device. On MX platforms with MPC10, MPC11, LC4800 or LC9600 line cards, and MX304, firewall filters applied on a loopback interface lo0.n (where n is a non-0 number) don't get executed when lo0.n is in the global VRF / default routing-instance. An affected configuration would be: user@host# show configuration interfaces lo0 | display set set interfaces lo0 unit 1 family inet filter input <filter-name> where a firewall filter is applied to a non-0 loopback interface, but that loopback interface is not referred to in any routing-instance (RI) configuration, which implies that it's used in the default RI. The issue can be observed with the CLI command: user@device> show firewall counter filter <filter_name> not showing any matches. This issue affects Junos OS on MX Series: * all versions before 23.2R2-S6, * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S7, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2, * 24.4 versions before 24.4R2.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Firewall filter bypass on exposed loopback interface directly enables unauthenticated network attackers to reach the device control plane.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces the loopback firewall filter rules that are intended to protect the control plane but are bypassed due to the PFE condition check failure.
Implements boundary protections (including lo0 filters) that restrict network traffic to the device's control plane, directly countering the unauthorized access path created by the filter bypass.
Enforces information flow policies between routing instances and the control plane; the defect occurs precisely when flow enforcement on a non-zero lo0 unit in the default RI is not applied.
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 directly require proper checks and handling for exceptional conditions throughout the SDLC.
Runtime monitoring of software and environments can detect adverse events triggered by unhandled exceptional conditions.
Generating logs of exceptions and errors enables detection of improper handling of unusual conditions.
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 verifies handling of error and exceptional conditions.
Logging can record unhandled exceptions but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Monitoring may detect symptoms of unhandled conditions but does not eliminate the root weakness.
Secure development life cycle mandates exception handling and input validation that directly prevent missing checks for unusual conditions.
Application security requirements explicitly call for handling of exceptional conditions and error paths.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require robust error and exception handling mechanisms.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that reduce the attack surface for weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Derived transitively via CVE→CWE→STIG over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248573 The OL 8 file integrity tool must notify the system administrator (SA) when changes to the baseline configuration or anomalies in the operation of any security functions are discovered within an organizationally defined frequency. via CWE-754
- V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. via CWE-754
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. via CWE-754