TmosOperating system · F5
CVE-1999-1550
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedbigconf.conf in F5 BIG/ip 2.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files by specifying the target file in the "file" parameter.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidencePath traversal vulnerability in F5 BIG/ip 2.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via the 'file' parameter in bigconf.conf. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input, enabling directory traversal attacks to access sensitive system files.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
TmosOperating system
= 2.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm F5 BIG/ip installationIdentify whether F5 BIG/ip software is installed in your environment by checking for the product or its management interface.Affected if F5 BIG/ip is not present in the environment, then this CVE does not apply.
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Determine the installed versionLocate and retrieve the installed BIG/ip version. Compare this version number against the affected range of 2.1.2 and earlier.Affected if The installed version is 2.1.2 or any earlier version within the 2.0 series.
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Verify bigconf.conf accessibilityCheck whether the bigconf.conf configuration interface is exposed and accessible. This is the component that contains the vulnerable 'file' parameter.Affected if bigconf.conf is accessible and the 'file' parameter functionality is enabled.
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Confirm the file parameter is functionalInspect whether the application accepts and processes input through the 'file' parameter in bigconf.conf, which is the attack vector for directory traversal.Affected if The 'file' parameter in bigconf.conf accepts user-supplied input without sanitization.
You are affected if F5 BIG/ip version 2.1.2 or earlier is installed AND the bigconf.conf interface with its file parameter is accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade F5 BIG/ip to a version beyond 2.1.2 that includes the patch for this vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict network access to the management interface and implement web application firewall rules to block directory traversal patterns.
Fix this in Tmos
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1550 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-1999-1550 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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