Published severityCritical→Operational priority:Critical, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Evidence used
CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
EPSS is 99.90% for the current model date.
Compensating controls
Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
Confirm that the asset runs F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management and falls inside the recorded affected range.
Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Optional official sources
National CERT insights ?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.
Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.
Official European source
ENISA European Vulnerability Database
Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.
1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier
EUVD-2021-10104
CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA
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.
EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 3 Nov 2021. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
9.8 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionProtect now
CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2021-11-17 as the remediation due date.
Fix not verified
01
What, why and how
F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management contain a remote code execution vulnerability in the iControl REST interface that allows unauthenticated attackers with network access to execute system commands, create or delete files, and disable services.
What
F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management contain a remote code execution vulnerability in the iControl REST interface that allows unauthenticated attackers with network access to execute system commands, create or delete files, and disable services.
Why
The server follows an attacker-influenced destination, allowing requests to systems or services the attacker cannot reach directly.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
What
F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management contain a remote code execution vulnerability in the iControl REST interface that allows unauthenticated attackers with network access to execute system commands, create or delete files, and disable services.
Why
The server follows an attacker-influenced destination, allowing requests to systems or services the attacker cannot reach directly.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.Confirmed in the wild
CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03. Known ransomware campaign use is recorded.
Public PoC / exploit material ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.Reference recorded
A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.
Likely attack path
a network path → Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) → execute code or commands in the affected security context
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness ?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-918: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF). The web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination.
CVSS vector ?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-10104Known-exploited evidence recorded
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.
Official EUVD record ↗Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AL21-004Vulnerabilities impacting F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ - update 1
On 10 March 2021, F5 publicly disclosed details of critical vulnerabilities affecting BIG-IP, BIG-IP Advanced WAF/ASM, and BIG-IQ products. Neither F5 nor the Cyber Centre are aware of active exploitation of these vulnerabilities; however, due to their criticality it is advised to apply the necessary patches or mitigations immediately.
UPDATE: As of 19 March 2021, the Cyber Centre has become aware of scanning and exploitation attempts against the iControl REST interface of F5 BIG-IP products within Canada. Successful exploitation could result in information disclosure or remote code execution which could lead to a full system compromise.
Official advisory ↗Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20210407Security Bulletin 07 Apr 2021
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 07 Apr 2021, published on 7 April 2021. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.
Official advisory ↗CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2021-AVI-189Multiples vulnérabilités dans F5 BIG-IP
De multiples vulnérabilités ont été découvertes dans F5 BIG-IP.
Certaines d'entre elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer une
exécution de code arbitraire à distance, un déni de service à distance
et une atteinte à l'intégrité des données.
Official advisory ↗KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5873최근 해킹 공격에 활용되는 취약점 보안 업데이트 권고
al)으로 인해 발생하는 정보노출 취약점(CVE-2021-41773)[3]
ㅇ Apache OFBiz에서 발생하는 크로스 사이트 스크립팅(XSS) 취약점(CVE-2020-9496)[4]
ㅇ Apache OFBiz에서 발생하는 역직렬화 취약점(CVE-2021-26295)[5]
ㅇ Apache Struts에서 발생하는 원격코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2020-17530)[6]
ㅇ Apache Struts에서 사용자 입력값 검증 미흡으로 발생하는 원격 코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2021-31805)[7]
ㅇ Apache Tomcat이 AJP request 메시지를 처리할 때, 메시지에 대한 처리가 미흡하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점(CVE-2020-1938)[8]
ㅇ Apache Log4j에서 발생하는 원격코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2021-44228)[9]
ㅇ Atlassian Confluence Server 및 Data Center에서 OGNL 인젝션으로 인해 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점(CVE-2021-26084)[10]
ㅇ BIG-IP에서 iControl REST 인증 미흡으로 인해 발생하는 불충분한 인가 취약점(CVE-2022-1388)[11]
ㅇ BIG-IP, BIG-IQ의 iControl REST 인터페이스에서 발생하는 원격 코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2021-22986)[12]
ㅇ Grafana 소프트웨어에서 경로탐색(Directory Traversal)으로 인해 발생하는 정보노출 취약점(CVE-2021-43798)[13]
ㅇ Inspur ClusterEngine V4.0에서 발생하는 원격 코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2020-21224)[14]
ㅇ Oracle WebLogic Server에서 발생하는 원격 코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2021-2109)[15]
ㅇ SMBv3 프로토콜이 조작된 패킷을 처리할 때 버퍼오버플로우로 인해 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점(CVE-2020-0796)[16]
ㅇ Spring Cloud Gateway에서 발생하는 원격코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2022-22947)[17]
ㅇ Spring Core에서 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점(CVE-2022-22965)[18]
ㅇ Spring Cloud Function에서 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점(CVE-2022-22963)[18]
ㅇ VMware vCenter Server 원격 코드 실행 취약점(CVE-2021-21972)[19]
ㅇ VMware vCenter Server 에서 발생하는 파일 업로드 취약점(CVE-2021-22005)[20]
ㅇ VMware Workspace ONE Access와 Identity Manager에서 발생하는 원격
Official advisory ↗KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5279F5 BIG-IP 제품 보안 업데이트 권고
BIG-IP, BIG-IQ의 iControl REST 인터페이스에서 발생하는 원격 명령어실행 취약점(CVE-2021-22986)
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
Status ?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
BIG-IP
BIG-IQ: BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 31 Mar 2021 · Last source change 21 Oct 2025, 23:25 UTC · CWE-918 · Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source ?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-10104
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
BIG-IP; BIG-IQ: BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2 · Fixed: The Cyber Centre recommends organizations review all impacted F5 appliances and virtual deployments and patch to one of the below recommended versions. [ 1 ] BIG-IP: Versions 16.0.0 to 16.0.1 should be upgraded to 16.0.1.1 Versions 15.1.0 to 15.1.2 should be upgraded to 15.1.2.1 Versions 14.1.0 to 14.1.3.1 should be upgraded to 14.1.4 Versions 13.1.0 to 13.1.3.5 should be upgraded to 13.1.3.6 Versions 12.1.0 to 12.1.5.2 should be upgraded to 12.1.5.3 Versions 11.6.1 to 11.6.5.2 should be upgraded to 11.6.5.3 BIG-IQ: Version 8.0.0 is unaffected Versions 7.1.0 to 7.1.0.2 should be upgraded to 8.0.0 Versions 7.0.0 to 7.0.0.1 should be upgraded to 7.1.0.3 Versions 6.0.0 to 6.1.0 should be upgraded to 7.0.0.2 F5 indicates that if a fixed version has not been identified for a branch used by an organization then no update is available. F5 recommends that organizations upgrade to a version with an available patch. Organizations may use the F5 platform matrix to determine compatible software versions for their F5 platform. [ 1 ] While the Cyber Centre strongly encourages patching as soon as possible, administrators should consider applying the mitigations described in the F5 KB articles if patching is not immediately possible. See the [ 4 ] and [ 5 ] for more details. In summary: Block iControl REST access through the self IP address. Block iControl REST access through the management interface. Block Configuration utility access through self IP addresses. Block Configuration utility access through the management interface. Patching as described in this section also fixes the buffer overflow vulnerabilities described in the previous section. There are no mitigations against CVE-2021-22991 other than patching, while for CVE-2021-22992 F5 has provided an iRule mitigation. [ 9 ] In all cases, the Cyber Centre and F5 recommend patching as the primary mitigation.
After
BIG-IP; BIG-IQ: BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3; BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
After
BIG-IP; BIG-IQ: BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
BIG-IP; BIG-IQ: BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
After
BIG-IP; BIG-IQ: BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2 · Fixed: The Cyber Centre recommends organizations review all impacted F5 appliances and virtual deployments and patch to one of the below recommended versions. [ 1 ] BIG-IP: Versions 16.0.0 to 16.0.1 should be upgraded to 16.0.1.1 Versions 15.1.0 to 15.1.2 should be upgraded to 15.1.2.1 Versions 14.1.0 to 14.1.3.1 should be upgraded to 14.1.4 Versions 13.1.0 to 13.1.3.5 should be upgraded to 13.1.3.6 Versions 12.1.0 to 12.1.5.2 should be upgraded to 12.1.5.3 Versions 11.6.1 to 11.6.5.2 should be upgraded to 11.6.5.3 BIG-IQ: Version 8.0.0 is unaffected Versions 7.1.0 to 7.1.0.2 should be upgraded to 8.0.0 Versions 7.0.0 to 7.0.0.1 should be upgraded to 7.1.0.3 Versions 6.0.0 to 6.1.0 should be upgraded to 7.0.0.2 F5 indicates that if a fixed version has not been identified for a branch used by an organization then no update is available. F5 recommends that organizations upgrade to a version with an available patch. Organizations may use the F5 platform matrix to determine compatible software versions for their F5 platform. [ 1 ] While the Cyber Centre strongly encourages patching as soon as possible, administrators should consider applying the mitigations described in the F5 KB articles if patching is not immediately possible. See the [ 4 ] and [ 5 ] for more details. In summary: Block iControl REST access through the self IP address. Block iControl REST access through the management interface. Block Configuration utility access through self IP addresses. Block Configuration utility access through the management interface. Patching as described in this section also fixes the buffer overflow vulnerabilities described in the previous section. There are no mitigations against CVE-2021-22991 other than patching, while for CVE-2021-22992 F5 has provided an iRule mitigation. [ 9 ] In all cases, the Cyber Centre and F5 recommend patching as the primary mitigation.
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
BlackTreeCVE Intelligence