CVE-2017-2314 in Junos
Summary
by MITRE
Receipt of a malformed BGP OPEN message may cause the routing protocol daemon (rpd) process to crash and restart. By continuously sending specially crafted BGP OPEN messages, an attacker can repeatedly crash the rpd process causing prolonged denial of service. No other Juniper Networks products or platforms are affected by this issue. Affected releases are Juniper Networks Junos OS 12.3 prior to 12.3R12-S4, 12.3R13, 12.3R3-S4; 12.3X48 prior to 12.3X48-D50; 13.3 prior to 13.3R4-S11, 13.3R10; 14.1 prior to 14.1R8-S3, 14.1R9; 14.1X53 prior to 14.1X53-D40; 14.1X55 prior to 14.1X55-D35; 14.2 prior to 14.2R4-S7, 14.2R6-S4, 14.2R7; 15.1 prior to 15.1F2-S11, 15.1F4-S1-J1, 15.1F5-S3, 15.1F6, 15.1R4; 15.1X49 prior to 15.1X49-D100; 15.1X53 prior to 15.1X53-D33, 15.1X53-D50.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/12/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-2314 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Juniper Networks Junos OS routing protocol daemon known as rpd. This issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms when processing BGP OPEN messages, which are fundamental components of the Border Gateway Protocol used for routing between autonomous systems on the internet. The flaw specifically affects the rpd process that handles BGP session establishment and maintenance, making it a significant threat to network stability and availability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the rpd daemon failing to properly validate the structure and content of incoming BGP OPEN messages. When malformed or specially crafted BGP OPEN messages are received, the daemon experiences a crash condition that results in automatic restart of the process. This behavior creates a cascading effect where the service becomes unavailable during the restart period, disrupting routing operations and potentially causing network partitions. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-20 as "Improper Input Validation" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.002 for "Endpoint Denial of Service" through resource exhaustion.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption as it enables persistent denial of service attacks. An attacker can repeatedly send malicious BGP OPEN messages to maintain continuous disruption of routing services, effectively keeping the rpd process in a constant crash-restart cycle. This creates a sustained availability issue that can severely impact network infrastructure, particularly in environments where BGP is critical for internet connectivity and traffic routing. The vulnerability affects multiple Junos OS versions across different release branches, indicating a widespread issue that required comprehensive patching across the product line.
Network administrators should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Juniper security patches that address the input validation issues in the rpd process. Additionally, network segmentation and BGP message filtering can help reduce the attack surface by limiting exposure to potentially malicious BGP peers. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of robust input validation in network protocol implementations and highlights the need for continuous security testing of routing protocols. Organizations should also consider implementing monitoring solutions to detect unusual BGP session fluctuations and potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of how protocol-level flaws can create significant operational risks and emphasizes the necessity of maintaining up-to-date security patches across all network infrastructure components. The affected versions span multiple major release lines, indicating that this was a fundamental implementation issue rather than an isolated bug, requiring coordinated remediation efforts across the entire Junos OS ecosystem.