CVE-2023-36843
Junos OS: SRX Series: The PFE will crash on receiving malformed SSL traffic when Sky ATP is enabled
An Improper Handling of Inconsistent Special Elements vulnerability in the Junos Services Framework (jsf) module of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause a crash in the Packet Forwarding Engine (pfe) and thereby resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Upon receiving malformed SSL traffic, the PFE crashes. A manual restart will be needed to recover the device.
This issue only affects devices with Juniper Networks Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) Cloud enabled with Encrypted Traffic Insights (configured via ‘security-metadata-streaming policy’).
This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS:
- All versions prior to 20.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S9;
- 21.1 version 21.1R1 and later versions;
- 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S6;
- 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5;
- 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S5;
- 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S4;
- 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3-S2;
- 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3;
- 22.4 versions prior to 22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3;
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Junos OS: SRX Series: The PFE will crash on receiving malformed SSL traffic when Sky ATP is enabled
An Improper Handling of Inconsistent Special Elements vulnerability in the Junos Services Framework (jsf) module of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause a crash in the Packet Forwarding Engine (pfe) and thereby resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Upon receiving malformed SSL traffic, the PFE crashes. A manual restart will be needed to recover the device.
This issue only affects devices with Juniper Networks Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) Cloud enabled with Encrypted Traffic Insights (configured via ‘security-metadata-streaming policy’).
This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS:
- All versions prior to 20.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S9;
- 21.1 version 21.1R1 and later versions;
- 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S6;
- 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5;
- 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S5;
- 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S4;
- 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3-S2;
- 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3;
- 22.4 versions prior to 22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3;
- Record
CVE-2023-36843- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-168, CWE-168
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-40763
An Improper Handling of Inconsistent Special Elements vulnerability in the Junos Services Framework (jsf) module of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause a crash in the Packet Forwarding Engine (pfe) and thereby resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Upon receiving malformed SSL traffic, the PFE crashes. A manual restart will be needed to recover the device.
This issue only affects devices with Juniper Networks Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) Cloud enabled with Encrypted Traffic Insights (configured via ‘security-metadata-streaming policy’).
This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS:
- All versions prior to 20.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S9;
- 21.1 version 21.1R1 and later versions;
- 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S6;
- 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5;
- 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S5;
- 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S4;
- 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3-S2;
- 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3;
- 22.4 versions prior to 22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3;
- Record
EUVD-2023-40763- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-f8h4-8cx8-j35m
An Improper Handling of Inconsistent Special Elements vulnerability in the Junos Services...
An Improper Handling of Inconsistent Special Elements vulnerability in the Junos Services Framework (jsf) module of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause a crash in the Packet Forwarding Engine (pfe) and thereby resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Upon receiving malformed SSL traffic, the PFE crashes. A manual restart will be needed to recover the device.
This issue only affects devices with Juniper Networks Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) Cloud enabled with Encrypted Traffic Insights (configured via ‘security-metadata-streaming policy’).
This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS:
- All versions prior to 20.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S9;
- 21.1 version 21.1R1 and later versions;
- 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S6;
- 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5;
- 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S5;
- 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S4;
- 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3-S2;
- 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3;
- 22.4 versions prior to 22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3;
- Record
GHSA-f8h4-8cx8-j35m- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-168
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
An Improper Handling of Inconsistent Special Elements vulnerability in the Junos Services Framework (jsf) module of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause a crash in the Packet Forwarding Engine (pfe) and thereby resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Upon receiving malformed SSL traffic, the PFE crashes. A manual restart will be needed to recover the device.
This issue only affects devices with Juniper Networks Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) Cloud enabled with Encrypted Traffic Insights (configured via ‘security-metadata-streaming policy’).
This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS:
- All versions prior to 20.4R3-S8, 20.4R3-S9;
- 21.1 version 21.1R1 and later versions;
- 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R3-S6;
- 21.3 versions prior to 21.3R3-S5;
- 21.4 versions prior to 21.4R3-S5;
- 22.1 versions prior to 22.1R3-S4;
- 22.2 versions prior to 22.2R3-S2;
- 22.3 versions prior to 22.3R2-S2, 22.3R3;
- 22.4 versions prior to 22.4R2-S1, 22.4R3;
- Record
CVE-2023-36843- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-168
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-36843 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Juniper Junos, published October 12, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.65%, the 51st percentile. No source names a fixed version.