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Big Iq Application Delivery ControllerApplication · F5

CVE-2015-5516

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-01-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Memory leak in the last hop kernel module in F5 BIG-IP LTM, GTM, and Link Controller 10.1.x, 10.2.x before 10.2.4 HF13, 11.x before 11.2.1 HF15, 11.3.x, 11.4.x, 11.5.x before 11.5.3 HF2, and 11.6.x before HF6, BIG-IP AAM 11.4.x, 11.5.x before 11.5.3 HF2 and 11.6.0 before HF6, BIG-IP AFM and PEM 11.3.x, 11.4.x, 11.5.x before 11.5.3 HF2, and 11.6.0 before HF6, BIG-IP Analytics 11.x before 11.2.1 HF15, 11.3.x, 11.4.x, 11.5.x before 11.5.3 HF2, and 11.6.0 before HF6, BIG-IP APM and ASM 10.1.0 through 10.2.4, 11.x before 11.2.1 HF15, 11.3.x, 11.4.x, 11.5.x before 11.5.3 HF2, and 11.6.0 before HF6, BIG-IP Edge Gateway, WebAccelerator, and WOM 10.1.x, 10.2.x before 10.2.4 HF13, 11.x before 11.2.1 HF15, and 11.3.0, BIG-IP PSM 10.1.x, 10.2.x before 10.2.4 HF13, 11.x before 11.2.1 HF15, 11.3.x, and 11.4.x before 11.4.1 HF, Enterprise Manager 3.0.0 through 3.1.1, BIG-IQ Cloud and Security 4.0.0 through 4.5.0, BIG-IQ Device 4.2.0 through 4.5.0, and BIG-IQ ADC 4.5.0 might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large number of crafted UDP packets.

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 confidence

A memory leak exists in the last hop kernel module of F5 BIG-IP products (LTM, GTM, Link Controller, AAM, AFM, PEM, Analytics, APM, ASM, and related BIG-IQ variants). The vulnerability is triggered by sending a large number of crafted UDP packets to the affected device, causing memory consumption to grow until a denial of service occurs.

MitigationApply the relevant hotfixes (10.2.4 HF13, 11.2.1 HF15, 11.5.3 HF2, or 11.6.x HF6) to the affected F5 products, or upgrade to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, consider filtering or rate-limiting incoming UDP traffic as a temporary mitigation.

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
Big Iq Application Delivery ControllerApplication
Affected:= 4.5.0
Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.0.0= 10.0.1= 10.1.0= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.0.0= 11.1.0= 11.2.0= 11.2.1
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.1.0= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.0.0= 11.1.0= 11.2.0= 11.2.1= 11.3.0= 11.4.0
Big Ip Edge GatewayWeb browser
Affected:= 10.1.0= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.0.0= 11.1.0= 11.2.0= 11.2.1= 11.3.0
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.1.0= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.0.0= 11.1.0= 11.2.0= 11.2.1= 11.3.0= 11.4.0
Big Iq SecurityApplication
Affected:= 4.0.0= 4.1.0= 4.2.0= 4.3.0= 4.4.0= 4.5.0
Big Ip Wan Optimization ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.1.0= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.0.0= 11.1.0= 11.2.0= 11.2.1= 11.3.0
Big Ip Global Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.1.0= 10.2.0= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.0.0= 11.1.0= 11.2.0= 11.2.1= 11.3.0= 11.4.0

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the F5 product and version
    Run 'tmsh show /sys version' or 'tmsh show /sys hardware' to identify the installed product module and version number
    Affected if The displayed version matches one of the affected versions listed in the CVE (e.g., LTM 10.x-11.2.1, APM 10.1.0-11.4.0, ASM 10.1.0-11.4.0, GTM 10.1.0-11.4.0, BIG-IQ 4.0.0-4.5.0)
  2. Confirm the last hop kernel module is loaded
    Run 'tmsh list /net lapp' or 'tmsh show /net lapp' to check if the Last Hop (LAPP) kernel module is configured and active
    Affected if The Last Hop module is enabled and processing traffic in the environment
  3. Check for abnormal memory consumption
    Run 'tmsh show /sys memory' or monitor /proc/meminfo via bash to observe kernel memory usage, particularly in the network stack
    Affected if Memory usage is abnormally high or steadily increasing, especially in kernel memory pools associated with UDP packet processing
  4. Monitor UDP traffic statistics
    Run 'tmsh show /net stats udp' or use 'tmsh show /net lapp stats' to view UDP packet counters and last hop module statistics
    Affected if There is a high volume of incoming UDP traffic and the counters show excessive packet processing by the last hop module

If the F5 product version matches the affected list AND the last hop kernel module is enabled, the environment is vulnerable to the memory leak denial-of-service condition described in this CVE.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the relevant hotfixes (10.2.4 HF13, 11.2.1 HF15, 11.5.3 HF2, or 11.6.x HF6) to the affected F5 products, or upgrade to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, consider filtering or rate-limiting incoming UDP traffic as a temporary mitigation.

Fix this in Big Iq Application Delivery Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-5516 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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