Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2017-6129

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-21
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
In F5 BIG-IP APM software version 13.0.0 and 12.1.2, in some circumstances, APM tunneled VPN flows can cause a VPN/PPP connflow to be prematurely freed or cause TMM to stop responding with a "flow not in use" assertion. An attacker may be able to disrupt traffic or cause the BIG-IP system to fail over to another device in the device group.

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

F5 BIG-IP APM versions 13.0.0 and 12.1.2 contain a flaw in tunneled VPN flow handling where VPN/PPP connflows can be prematurely freed or cause the TMM (Traffic Management Module) to halt with a 'flow not in use' assertion error, allowing unauthenticated attackers to trigger denial of service or force failover.

MitigationUpgrade BIG-IP APM to a version beyond 13.0.0 and 12.1.2 that includes the fix for this vulnerability; for immediate risk reduction, disable APM tunneled VPN functionality or segment access until patching is feasible.

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 Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:= 12.1.2= 13.0.0

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. Verify APM module is installed
    Check if the Access Policy Manager (APM) module is present on the BIG-IP device by reviewing the installed modules via tmsh or the management console
    Affected if APM module is installed and the version is 12.1.2 or 13.0.0
  2. Confirm BIG-IP APM version
    Retrieve the installed APM version using the BIG-IP system management interface or command line tools (such as tmsh show /apm version or similar version display command)
    Affected if The installed version matches exactly 12.1.2 or 13.0.0
  3. Check if tunneled VPN or PPP is enabled
    Review the APM configuration to determine whether any tunneled VPN profiles, PPP tunnels, or VPN access policies are currently active or configured on the BIG-IP device
    Affected if Tunneled VPN or PPP functionality is enabled or configured in APM

A user is affected if their BIG-IP APM runs version 12.1.2 or 13.0.0 AND has tunneled VPN or PPP functionality enabled, making the denial-of-service vulnerability exploitable.

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 BIG-IP APM to a version beyond 13.0.0 and 12.1.2 that includes the fix for this vulnerability; for immediate risk reduction, disable APM tunneled VPN functionality or segment access until patching is feasible.

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2017-6129 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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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