Vulnerability Database

346,508

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2021-0270 — juniper / junos

Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

On PTX Series and QFX10k Series devices with the "inline-jflow" feature enabled, a use after free weakness in the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) microkernel architecture of Juniper Networks Junos OS may allow an attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) condition whereby one or more Flexible PIC Concentrators (FPCs) may restart. As this is a race condition situation this issue become more likely to be hit when network instability occurs, such as but not limited to BGP/IGP reconvergences, and/or further likely to occur when more active "traffic flows" are occurring through the device. When this issue occurs, it will cause one or more FPCs to restart unexpectedly. During FPC restarts core files will be generated. While the core file is generated traffic will be disrupted. Sustained receipt of large traffic flows and reconvergence-like situations may sustain the Denial of Service (DoS) situation. This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS: 18.1 version 18.1R2 and later versions prior to 18.1R3-S10 on PTX Series, QFX10K Series.

  • Published: Apr 22, 2021
  • Updated: Nov 16, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2021-0270
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 7.5
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: Low
  • Score: 4.3
  • AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Software From Fixed in
juniper / junos 18.1-r3 18.1-r3.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r2 18.1-r2.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r2-s2 18.1-r2-s2.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s4 18.1-r3-s4.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s3 18.1-r3-s3.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s2 18.1-r3-s2.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r2-s1 18.1-r2-s1.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r2-s4 18.1-r2-s4.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s1 18.1-r3-s1.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s5 18.1-r3-s5.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s6 18.1-r3-s6.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s7 18.1-r3-s7.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s8 18.1-r3-s8.x
juniper / junos 18.1-r3-s9 18.1-r3-s9.x

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.