CVE-2026-21919: Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved: A high frequency of connecting and disconnecting NETCONF sessions causes management unavailability
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 28/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.23% (FIRST EPSS).
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- Fixed version: Juniper Networks Junos OS 23.4R2-S4, 24.2R2-S1, 24.4R1-S3, 24.4R2; Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved 23.4R2-S5-EVO, 24.2R2-S1-EVO, 24.4R1-S3-EVO, 24.4R2-EVO.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to Juniper Networks Junos OS 23.4R2-S4, 24.2R2-S1, 24.4R1-S3, 24.4R2; Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved 23.4R2-S5-EVO, 24.2R2-S1-EVO, 24.4R1-S3-EVO, 24.4R2-EVO or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
An Incorrect Synchronization vulnerability in the management daemon (mgd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS and Junos OS Evolved allows a network-based attacker with low privileges to cause a complete Denial-of-Service (DoS) of the management plane. When NETCONF sessions are quickly established and disconnected, a locking issue causes mgd processes to hang in an unusable state. When the maximum number of mgd processes has been reached, no new logins are possible. This leads to the inability to manage the device and requires a power-cycle to recover. This issue can be monitored by checking for mgd processes in lockf state in the output of 'show system processes extensive': user@host> show system processes extensive | match mgd <pid> root 20 0 501M 4640K lockf 1 0:01 0.00% mgd If the system still can be accessed (either via the CLI or as root, which might still be possible as last resort as this won't invoke mgd), mgd processes in this state can be killed with 'request system process terminate <PID>' from the CLI or with 'kill -9 <PID>' from the shell. This issue affects: Junos OS: * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S4, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2-S1, * 24.4 versions before 24.4R1-S3, 24.4R2; This issue does not affect Junos OS versions before 23.4R1; Junos OS Evolved: * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S5-EVO, * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2-S1-EVO, * 24.4 versions before 24.4R1-S3-EVO, 24.4R2-EVO. This issue does not affect Junos OS Evolved versions before 23.4R1-EVO;
- Published
- Apr 9, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 26, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.2% · 14th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-821
Report tools
Action score
28
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 28 / 40 · 7.1 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.2%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · juniper
- 6.5
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
Is your version affected? Check itNoroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| juniper | junos | cpe:2.3:o:juniper:junos |
| juniper | junos os evolved | cpe:2.3:o:juniper:junos_os_evolved |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- juniper junos23.4
- juniper junos24.2
- juniper junos24.4
- juniper junos os evolved23.4
- juniper junos os evolved24.2
- juniper junos os evolved24.4
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (juniper). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Juniper Networks Junos OS
- 23.4 and later · before 23.4R2-S4affected · semver
- 24.2 and later · before 24.2R2-S1affected · semver
- 24.4 and later · before 24.4R1-S3, 24.4R2affected · semver
- all version prior to and later · before 23.4R1not affected · semver
Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved
- 23.4 and later · before 23.4R2-S5-EVOaffected · semver
- 24.2 and later · before 24.2R2-S1-EVOaffected · semver
- 24.4 and later · before 24.4R1-S3-EVO, 24.4R2-EVOaffected · semver
- all version prior to and later · before 23.4R1-EVOnot affected · semver
Same product
juniper: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2023-36845Junos OS: EX and SRX Series: A PHP vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated to control an important environment variableKEV98Now
- CVE-2023-36846Junos OS: SRX Series: A vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to upload arbitrary filesKEV79This week
- CVE-2023-36844Junos OS: EX Series: A PHP vulnerability in J-Web allows an unauthenticated attacker to control important environment variablesKEV78This week
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2025-30650Apr 8, 2026 · Junos OS: Privileged local user can gain access to a Linux-based FPC as root33Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-21916Apr 9, 2026 · Junos OS: A low privileged user can escalate their privileges so that they can login as root28Monitor
- Later →CVE-2026-33773Apr 9, 2026 · Junos OS: EX Series, QFX Series: If the same egress filter is configured on both an IRB and a physical interface one of those is not…27Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Juniper Networks Junos OS | 23.4R2-S4 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Juniper Networks Junos OS | 24.2R2-S1 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Juniper Networks Junos OS | 24.4R1-S3, 24.4R2 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved | 23.4R2-S5-EVO | Vendor (CNA) |
| Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved | 24.2R2-S1-EVO | Vendor (CNA) |
| Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved | 24.4R1-S3-EVO, 24.4R2-EVO | Vendor (CNA) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Availability
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-821 · Incorrect SynchronizationCVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:Y/R:U/V:X/RE:M/U:X
nvd-secondary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.