CVE-2021-0202 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis
Discover the impact of CVE-2021-0202, a memory leak vulnerability affecting Juniper Networks MX Series & EX9200 Series platforms. Learn about affected systems, exploitation risks, and mitigation steps.
A memory leak vulnerability, identified as CVE-2021-0202, impacts Juniper Networks MX Series and EX9200 Series platforms. This vulnerability occurs when the Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB) interface is configured and mapped to a VPLS instance or a Bridge-Domain, leading to potential memory exhaustion and MPC restarts.
Understanding CVE-2021-0202
This CVE affects Junos OS on specific Juniper Networks hardware and versions due to a memory leak issue in Trio-based MPC.
What is CVE-2021-0202?
The vulnerability arises in scenarios where the IRB interface is associated with a VPLS instance or a Bridge-Domain, causing memory leakage on Trio-based MPC platforms.
The Impact of CVE-2021-0202
When the memory leak occurs, the MPC experiences out-of-memory events, triggering restarts that result in temporary traffic interruptions until the issue is resolved.
Technical Details of CVE-2021-0202
The vulnerability affects Junos OS versions 17.3R3-S8, 17.4R3-S2, 18.2R3-S4, 18.3R3-S2, 18.4R3-S1, 19.2R2, 19.4R2, and 20.2R1. Specific configuration stanzas are identified that lead to this issue.
Vulnerability Description
Certain network events at Customer Edge (CE) devices can trigger memory leaks in Trio-based MPC on MX Series and EX9200 Series platforms.
Affected Systems and Versions
MX Series and EX9200 Series using Trio-based PFEs are impacted by this vulnerability on specific Junos OS versions.
Exploitation Mechanism
No evidence suggests malicious exploitation of this vulnerability by Juniper SIRT.
Mitigation and Prevention
To address CVE-2021-0202, update to the latest software releases, including versions like 17.3R3-S9, 17.4R3-S3, 18.2R3-S6, and subsequent releases.
Immediate Steps to Take
Administrators should proactively monitor Memory Usage Level using the provided CLI command.
Long-Term Security Practices
Regularly update Junos OS to prevent memory leak vulnerabilities and related service interruptions.
Patching and Updates
Juniper Networks has released software updates to resolve the specific memory leak issue, with a commitment to incorporating fixes in future releases.