CVE-2021-22986

Home/CVE/F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE

F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

On BIG-IP versions 16.0.x before 16.0.1.1, 15.1.x before 15.1.2.1, 14.1.x before 14.1.4, 13.1.x before 13.1.3.6, and 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3 amd BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3 and 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2, the iControl REST interface has an unauthenticated remote command execution vulnerability. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Software Development (EoSD) are not evaluated.

CRITICAL · CVSS 9.8 ⚠ CISA KEV EPSS 0.94485 Ransomware: known

Act now

Listed on CISA KEV (known exploited in the wild)
Linked to known ransomware campaigns
SSVC exploitation status: active
EPSS ≥ 0.50 - high probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
EPSS percentile: top 0% of all CVEs by exploitation likelihood
Public exploit or PoC is available
SSVC automatable: yes - attacks can be scripted at scale
CVSS base score ≥ 7.0

Sigma rules10 YARA rules0

⬢

Required Remediation

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

◆

Threat Actors Linked

actorALPHV / BlackCat

actorLockBit Operators

⬡

Weakness Classification

CWE-918Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

▤

Affected Products & Versions

f5 big-ip access policy manager>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip access policy manager>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip access policy manager>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip access policy manager>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip access policy manager>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip advanced firewall manager>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip advanced firewall manager>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip advanced firewall manager>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
Show all 60 affected productsf5 big-ip advanced firewall manager>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip advanced firewall manager>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip advanced web application firewall>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip advanced web application firewall>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip advanced web application firewall>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip advanced web application firewall>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip advanced web application firewall>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip analytics>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip analytics>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip analytics>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip analytics>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip analytics>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip application acceleration manager>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip application acceleration manager>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip application acceleration manager>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip application acceleration manager>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip application acceleration manager>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip application security manager>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip application security manager>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip application security manager>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip application security manager>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip application security manager>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip ddos hybrid defender>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip ddos hybrid defender>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip ddos hybrid defender>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip ddos hybrid defender>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip ddos hybrid defender>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip domain name system>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip domain name system>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip domain name system>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip domain name system>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip domain name system>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip fraud protection service>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip fraud protection service>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip fraud protection service>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip fraud protection service>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip fraud protection service>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip global traffic manager>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip global traffic manager>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip global traffic manager>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip global traffic manager>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip global traffic manager>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip link controller>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip link controller>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip link controller>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip link controller>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip link controller>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1
f5 big-ip local traffic manager>= 12.1.0 and < 12.1.5.3
f5 big-ip local traffic manager>= 13.1.0 and < 13.1.3.6
f5 big-ip local traffic manager>= 14.1.0 and < 14.1.4
f5 big-ip local traffic manager>= 15.1.0 and < 15.1.2.1
f5 big-ip local traffic manager>= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.1.1

⚠

Public Exploits & PoCs

webappsF5 BIG-IP 16.0.x - iControl REST Remote Code Execution (Unauthenticated)2021-04-02
nucleiF5 iControl REST - Remote Command Executioncritical
pocpacketstormsecurity.com · F5-iControl-Server-Side-Request-Forgery-Remote-Command-Ex...packetstormsecurity.com
pocpacketstormsecurity.com · F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlpacketstormsecurity.com

◈

Detection Rules (IDS/IPS)

et-openET EXPLOIT F5 BIG-IP iControl REST Unauthenticated RCE Inbound (CVE-2021-22986)attempted-admin

et-openET EXPLOIT [NCC/FOX-IT] Possible F5 BIG-IP/BIG-IQ iControl REST RCE Attempt (CVE-2021-22986)attempted-admin

Open rulesets (ET Open, Snort Community, abuse.ch) link to source. Commercial rulesets are reference-only.

◈

Sigma Hunt Rules

Exact rules name this CVE ID. Product rules name an affected product in their title. Related rules cover techniques used by actors who exploited this CVE. Showing the most relevant matches; the complete related set is on the full drill-down.

relatedcriticalAntivirus Password Dumper Detection

relatedcriticalHacktool Execution - Imphash

relatedcriticalHackTool - Rubeus Execution

relatedcriticalPotential Credential Dumping Via LSASS Process Clone

relatedcriticalWCE wceaux.dll Access

relatedcriticalHackTool - Dumpert Process Dumper Default File

Show all 10 top matches

relatedcriticalHackTool - Credential Dumping Tools Named Pipe Created

relatedcriticalHackTool - Inveigh Execution

relatedcriticalHackTool - SafetyKatz Execution

relatedcriticalHackTool - Dumpert Process Dumper Execution

▣

Scoring & Timeline

9.8

CRITICAL · CVSS v3.1 · f5sirt@f5.com

View on NVD

Attack Vector

Network Adjacent Local Physical

Attack Complexity

Low High

Privileges Required

None Low High

User Interaction

None Required

Scope

Unchanged Changed

Confidentiality

None Low High

Integrity

None Low High

Availability

None Low High

Published to NVD31 Mar 2021 · 03:15 PM

CVSS VectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

SSVC triage · cisa-vulnrichment

Exploitation

active

Automatable

yes

Technical impact

total

SSVC asks the questions that actually drive patch urgency: is it being exploited, can attacks be automated, and how total is the impact.

⚑

Vendor Advisories

cisaKEV-CVE-2021-22986

🔗

References & Sources

Source URLs (vendor pages, mailing lists, write-ups). Exploit/PoC links are in their own section above to avoid duplication.

https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K03009991Vendor Advisory

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-22986US Government Resource

Intelligence Graph · click any node to traverse

CVETechnique ActorTool Family

drag to reposition · click any node to traverse · button top-right enlarges

External lookups - second-class, for what we don’t hold ourselves

NVD CVE.org CISA Vulners Exploit-DB GitHub PoC VulnCheck KEV GreyNoise

Vulnerabilities
CISA KEV catalog
CWE weaknesses
CAPEC attack patterns
Package vulnerabilities

Threat intelligence
Threat actors
Tools & malware
ATT&CK techniques
IOCs

Detection & defense
Sigma rules
YARA rules
Atomic Red Team tests
D3FEND countermeasures

Compliance
NIST 800-53
ISO 27001:2022
SOC 2 TSC
PCI-DSS v4.0
CIS Controls v8.1

About
All capabilities
Live statistics
Data sources
Privacy policy
Terms of service

threatengine.sh · Open-source threat intelligence platform · 100+ authoritative sources · Every fact traces to its origin