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Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2016-9252

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-03-27
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
The Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) in F5 BIG-IP before 11.5.4 HF3, 11.6.x before 11.6.1 HF2 and 12.x before 12.1.2 does not properly handle minimum path MTU options for IPv6, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) through unspecified vectors.

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 vulnerability in the F5 BIG-IP Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) allows remote attackers to trigger a denial of service by sending specially crafted IPv6 packets with malformed minimum path MTU options. The improper handling of these IPv6 MTU parameters causes the TMM to fail, potentially affecting all traffic flowing through the BIG-IP device.

MitigationUpgrade F5 BIG-IP to version 11.5.4 HF3, 11.6.1 HF2, 12.1.2, or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling IPv6 on affected devices as a temporary workaround until the upgrade can be scheduled.

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 Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.2.1= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:= 11.2.1= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.2.1= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.2.1= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1
Big Ip Link ControllerApplication
Affected:= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4= 11.2.1= 11.4.0= 11.4.1= 11.5.0= 11.5.1= 11.5.2= 11.5.3= 11.5.4

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 installed BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or 'bigpipe version' from the command line to obtain the exact BIG-IP version
    Affected if Version matches one of the listed affected versions (10.2.1-10.2.4, 11.2.1, 11.4.0-11.5.4, 11.6.0-11.6.1, 12.0.0-12.1.1)
  2. Identify enabled BIG-IP modules
    Run 'tmsh list sys module' to list all enabled modules. This CVE affects TMM which is part of LTM, but other modules like AAM, AFM, Analytics, APM, ASM, and DNS may also be vulnerable depending on version
    Affected if Any of the affected modules (LTM, AAM, AFM, Analytics, APM, ASM, DNS) are enabled on an affected version
  3. Check if IPv6 is enabled on the system
    Run 'tmsh show net ipv6' or check the BIG-IP network settings via the web UI under Network > IPv6
    Affected if IPv6 is enabled and the system is processing IPv6 traffic; the vulnerability requires IPv6 to be active for the malformed packet attack to succeed
  4. Verify TMM service status
    Run 'tmsh show sys tmm-info' to confirm TMM is running
    Affected if TMM is active and processing traffic; the denial of service affects TMM specifically causing potential traffic disruption

The environment is affected if BIG-IP is running any of the listed affected versions with IPv6 enabled and one of the vulnerable modules (LTM, AAM, AFM, Analytics, APM, ASM, or DNS) loaded.

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

Upgrade F5 BIG-IP to version 11.5.4 HF3, 11.6.1 HF2, 12.1.2, or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling IPv6 on affected devices as a temporary workaround until the upgrade can be scheduled.

Fix this in Big Ip Local Traffic Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
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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-2016-9252 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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