CVE-2022-22161: An Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in the kernel of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to caus...

Description

An Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in the kernel of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause 100% CPU load and the device to become unresponsive by sending a flood of traffic to the out-of-band management ethernet port. Continued receipted of a flood will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. Once the flood subsides the system will recover by itself. An indication that the system is affected by this issue would be that an irq handled by the fman process is shown to be using a high percentage of CPU cycles like in the following example output: user@host> show system processes extensive ... PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE TIME WCPU COMMAND 31 root -84 -187 0K 16K WAIT 22.2H 56939.26% irq96: fman0 This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: All versions prior to 18.3R3-S6; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2-S9, 18.4R3-S9; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R2-S3, 19.1R3-S7; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S7, 19.2R3-S3; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R2-S7, 19.3R3-S4; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S5, 19.4R3-S5; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3-S1; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S2; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S1; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R2-S2, 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R2; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R1-S1, 21.2R2.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.97%

57.5th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-400

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Juniper	Junos	<= 18.2
Juniper	Junos	18.3
Juniper	Junos	18.4
Juniper	Junos	19.1
Juniper	Junos	19.2
Juniper	Junos	19.3
Juniper	Junos	19.4
Juniper	Junos	20.1
Juniper	Junos	20.2
Juniper	Junos	20.3
Juniper	Junos	20.4
Juniper	Junos	21.1
Juniper	Junos	21.2

References

https://kb.juniper.net/JSA11269Vendor Advisory
https://kb.juniper.net/JSA11269Vendor Advisory

Timeline

Published: Jan 19, 2022
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-22161?

An Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in the kernel of Juniper Networks Junos OS allows an unauthenticated network based attacker to cause 100% CPU load and the device to become unresponsive by sending a flood of traffic to the out-of-band management ethernet port. Continued receipted of a flood will create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. Once the flood subsides the system will recover by itself. An indication that the system is affected by this issue would be that an irq handled by the fman process is shown to be using a high percentage of CPU cycles like in the following example output: user@host> show system processes extensive ... PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE TIME WCPU COMMAND 31 root -84 -187 0K 16K WAIT 22.2H 56939.26% irq96: fman0 This issue affects Juniper Networks Junos OS: All versions prior to 18.3R3-S6; 18.4 versions prior to 18.4R2-S9, 18.4R3-S9; 19.1 versions prior to 19.1R2-S3, 19.1R3-S7; 19.2 versions prior to 19.2R1-S7, 19.2R3-S3; 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R2-S7, 19.3R3-S4; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R2-S5, 19.4R3-S5; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3-S1; 20.2 versions prior to 20.2R3-S2; 20.3 versions prior to 20.3R3-S1; 20.4 versions prior to 20.4R2-S2, 20.4R3; 21.1 versions prior to 21.1R2; 21.2 versions prior to 21.2R1-S1, 21.2R2.

How severe is CVE-2022-22161?

CVE-2022-22161 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.97% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2022-22161?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.