CVE-2022-22235 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting the Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) component of Juniper Networks Junos OS running on SRX Series devices. The vulnerability arises from an improper check for unusual or exceptional conditions (CWE-754) when processing GPRS Tunnel Protocol (GTP) packets. Specifically, if a GTP packet contains a malformed field in the IP header of the encapsulated General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) traffic, and endpoint address validation is enabled, the PFE can crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). The attacker can trigger this condition remotely without authentication by sending a specially crafted GTP packet. However, exploitation is constrained because the malformed packet must match existing state information, which is outside the attacker’s control, limiting direct exploitation. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Junos OS from 20.2 up to 22.1 prior to specific patch releases, but does not affect versions before 20.2R1. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.9, reflecting a network attack vector with high attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, and an impact limited to availability (no confidentiality or integrity impact). No known exploits are reported in the wild. This vulnerability could be leveraged to disrupt network operations by causing SRX devices to crash, potentially impacting network availability and service continuity in environments using affected Junos OS versions with endpoint address validation enabled.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-22235 primarily concerns network availability and operational continuity. Juniper SRX Series devices are widely used in enterprise and service provider networks across Europe for firewalling, routing, and security gateway functions. A successful exploitation could cause PFE crashes leading to temporary loss of network traffic forwarding capabilities, resulting in service outages or degraded performance. This is particularly critical for telecommunications providers and large enterprises relying on Junos OS SRX devices for secure and reliable connectivity. Disruptions could affect critical infrastructure sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and telecommunications, where network availability is paramount. Although the attack complexity is high due to state matching requirements, targeted attackers with network access could cause intermittent DoS conditions. The lack of confidentiality or integrity impact reduces risks of data breaches but does not diminish the operational risks posed by potential network downtime. Organizations with endpoint address validation enabled are specifically at risk, so awareness of configuration settings is important. Given the absence of known exploits, the threat is currently moderate but warrants proactive mitigation to avoid future exploitation as attackers develop techniques to bypass state constraints.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading affected Junos OS versions to the latest patched releases as specified by Juniper Networks to remediate this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, temporarily disabling endpoint address validation on SRX devices can mitigate the risk of PFE crashes, though this may reduce security posture and should be carefully evaluated. Network administrators should implement strict ingress filtering and monitoring of GTP traffic to detect and block malformed or suspicious packets that could trigger the vulnerability. Deploying anomaly detection systems focused on GTP traffic patterns can help identify exploitation attempts. Regularly auditing device configurations to confirm endpoint address validation settings and Junos OS versions is essential. Additionally, segmenting critical network infrastructure and limiting exposure of SRX devices to untrusted networks reduces attack surface. Maintaining up-to-date network device inventories and vulnerability management processes ensures timely identification and remediation of affected systems. Finally, organizations should monitor threat intelligence feeds for any emerging exploit activity related to CVE-2022-22235 to respond promptly.