Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is crucial for the functioning of the internet, but flaws in BGP software have caused disruptions in the past. One concerning issue is a BGP bug that can spread like a computer worm. Recently, a small Brazilian network announced a route with a corrupted attribute, causing Juniper routers to shut down BGP sessions. This disrupted communication with the wider internet. The propagation of unknown attributes can lead to these shutdowns, potentially even partitioning large sections of the internet. The discovery of these vulnerabilities highlights the need for improved security measures in BGP implementations.
https://blog.benjojo.co.uk/post/bgp-path-attributes-grave-error-handling