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Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2017-6148

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.1.3 or later.
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
Responses to SOCKS proxy requests made through F5 BIG-IP version 13.0.0, 12.0.0-12.1.3.1, 11.6.1-11.6.2, or 11.5.1-11.5.5 may cause a disruption of services provided by TMM. The data plane is impacted and exposed only when a SOCKS proxy profile is attached to a Virtual Server. The control plane is not impacted by this vulnerability.

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 contains a vulnerability in the TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) data plane where specially crafted responses to SOCKS proxy requests can cause TMM to restart or crash, resulting in disruption of services. The vulnerability is only exposed when a SOCKS proxy profile is attached to a Virtual Server.

MitigationUpgrade F5 BIG-IP to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, consider removing SOCKS proxy profiles from Virtual Servers as a compensating control until the upgrade can be performed.

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:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip Link ControllerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 13.0.0
Big Ip WebsafeApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 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. Check the installed BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or 'show sys version' from the administrative interface to retrieve the exact version number.
    Affected if The version falls within 11.5.1-11.5.5, 11.6.1-11.6.2, 12.0.0-12.1.3, or 13.0.0.
  2. Identify SOCKS proxy profiles configured
    Run 'tmsh list ltm profile socks' to list all SOCKS proxy profiles defined on the system.
    Affected if Any SOCKS proxy profiles exist on the system.
  3. Check Virtual Servers with SOCKS profiles attached
    Run 'tmsh list ltm virtual' and examine each Virtual Server configuration for a 'socks-profile' reference in the profile section.
    Affected if A Virtual Server references a SOCKS proxy profile in its configuration.
  4. Confirm TMM exposure
    Review the output from the previous step to identify which specific Virtual Servers have SOCKS proxy profiles attached.
    Affected if At least one Virtual Server has a SOCKS proxy profile enabled.

You are affected if the BIG-IP version is within the vulnerable ranges AND a SOCKS proxy profile is attached to any Virtual Server.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 12.1.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade F5 BIG-IP to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, consider removing SOCKS proxy profiles from Virtual Servers as a compensating control until the upgrade can be performed.

Fix this in Big Ip Local Traffic Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2017-6148 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data