CVE-2026-102080: Junos OS: MX Series: Malformed SyncE or PTP clock input causes continuous RE switchover

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.3 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-10-14 · updated 2026-10-15
Weakness: CWE-413

Description

An Improper Resource Locking vulnerability in the clock synchronization daemon (clksyncd) of Juniper Networks Junos OS on MX Series allows a unauthenticated, logically adjacent attacker to cause a Denial-of-Service (DoS). If a SyncE or PTP upstream node sends a malformed message to an MX device equipped with SCBE3, a false 19.44MHz alarm is generated on the master RE. This leads to persistent RE switchovers and a clksyncd process crash. This issue is outside the attacker's direct control as it's a race condition. This issue affects Junos OS on MX Series: * All versions before 23.2R2-S7.7; * 23.4 versions before 23.4R2-S8.13; * 24.2 versions before 24.2R2-S5.5; * 24.4 versions before 24.4R2-S4; * 25.2 versions before 25.2R2-S1; * 25.4 versions before 25.4R1-S2.

Affected products

Juniper Junos OS: before 23.2R2-S7.7; from 23.4 before 23.4R2-S8.13; from 24.2 before 24.2R2-S5.5; from 24.4 before 24.4R2-S4; from 25.2 before 25.2R2-S1; from 25.4 before 25.4R1-S2 — fixed in 23.2R2-S7.7, 23.4R2-S8.13, 24.2R2-S5.5, 24.4R2-S4, 25.2R2-S1, 25.4R1-S2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Juniper Junos OS 23.2R2-S7.7, 23.4R2-S8.13, 24.2R2-S5.5, 24.4R2-S4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://supportportal.juniper.net/JSA112178

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