CVE-2021-0264: A vulnerability in the processing of traffic matching a firewall filter containing a syslog action in Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series with MPC10/MPC11 ca

A vulnerability in the processing of traffic matching a firewall filter containing a syslog action in Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series with MPC10/MPC11 ca

A vulnerability in the processing of traffic matching a firewall filter containing a syslog action in Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series with MPC10/MPC11 cards installed, PTX10003 and PTX10008 Series devices, will cause the line card to crash and restart, creating a Denial of Service (DoS). Continued receipt and processing of packets matching the firewall filter can create a sustained Denial of Service (DoS) condition. When traffic hits the firewall filter, configured on lo0 or any physical interface on the line card, containing a term with a syslog action (e.g. 'term <name> then syslog'), the affected line card will crash and restart, impacting traffic processing through the ports of the line card. This issue only affects MX Series routers with MPC10 or MPC11 line cards, and PTX10003 or PTX10008 Series packet transport routers. No other platforms or models of line cards are affected by this issue. Note: This issue has also been identified and described in technical service bulletin TSB17931 (login required). This issue affects: Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series: 19.3 versions prior to 19.3R3-S2; 19.4 versions prior to 19.4R3-S2; 20.1 versions prior to 20.1R3; 20.2 version

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by sirt@juniper.net

What it means for a small business

Junos OS is network equipment or remote-access software: the box between your office and the internet. These are a favorite target because breaking one opens the whole office.

If an IT provider set it up, ask them to confirm the firmware version and the date it was updated. If nobody looks after it, that's the bigger problem.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.98%, higher than 62% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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