CVE-2023-28979

Unauthorized IPv6 forwarding via failed integrity check

Published Apr 17, 2023 · Updated Feb 26, 2025

Improper exceptional-condition handling in the Junos OS kernel allows adjacent unauthenticated attackers to forward malformed IPv6 traffic. In a 6PE deployment with an additional integrity check configured, the kernel fails to drop specific malformed IPv6 packets and forwards them to connected networks. Reachability requires adjacency to the routing path and the affected 6PE configuration; the bounded impact is unauthorized packet forwarding.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper exceptional-condition handling in the Junos OS kernel allows adjacent unauthenticated attackers to forward malformed IPv6 traffic. In a 6PE deployment with an additional integrity check configured, the kernel fails to drop specific malformed IPv6 packets and forwards them to connected networks. Reachability requires adjacency to the routing path and the affected 6PE configuration; the bounded impact is unauthorized packet forwarding.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-28979
Published
Apr 17, 2023
Updated
Feb 26, 2025
Vendor
Juniper Networks
Product
Junos OS
Classifications
CWE-754
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 17, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 26, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=19.4 <19.4R3-S9
  2. Affected versionversion=20.2 <20.2R3-S7
  3. Affected versionversion=20.3 <20.3R3-S5
  4. Affected versionversion=20.4 <20.4R3-S4
  5. Affected versionversion=21.1 <21.1R3-S3
  6. Affected versionversion=21.2 <21.2R3-S2
  7. Affected versionversion=21.3 <21.3R3-S1
  8. Affected versionversion=21.4 <21.4R2-S1, 21.4R3
  9. Affected versionversion=22.1 <22.1R2
  10. Affected versionversion=22.2 <22.2R2
  11. Affected versionversion=unspecified <19.3R3-S7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Juniper Networks · Junos OSversion=19.4 <19.4R3-S9; version=20.2 <20.2R3-S7; version=20.3 <20.3R3-S5; version=20.4 <20.4R3-S4; version=21.1 <21.1R3-S3; version=21.2 <21.2R3-S2; version=21.3 <21.3R3-S1; version=21.4 <21.4R2-S1, 21.4R3; version=22.1 <22.1R2; version=22.2 <22.2R2; version=unspecified <19.3R3-S7

Published CVSS scores

4.7Juniper Networks, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-754Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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