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Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2017-6156

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
When the F5 BIG-IP 12.1.0-12.1.1, 11.6.0-11.6.1, 11.5.1-11.5.5, or 11.2.1 system is configured with a wildcard IPSec tunnel endpoint, it may allow a remote attacker to disrupt or impersonate the tunnels that have completed phase 1 IPSec negotiations. The attacker must possess the necessary credentials to negotiate the phase 1 of the IPSec exchange to exploit this vulnerability; in many environment this limits the attack surface to other endpoints under the same administration.

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 · moderate confidence

F5 BIG-IP systems configured with wildcard IPSec tunnel endpoints contain a vulnerability allowing an authenticated remote attacker with phase 1 IPSec credentials to disrupt or impersonate tunnels that have completed phase 1 negotiations. The attacker leverages the wildcard configuration to manipulate phase 2 IPSec child security associations.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched BIG-IP version beyond 12.1.1, 11.6.1, 11.5.5, or 11.2.1. Additionally, restrict IPSec phase 1 credentials to minimize the attack surface and ensure only trusted endpoints can initiate phase 1 negotiations.

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>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip Edge GatewayWeb browser
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1
Big Ip Global Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.1= 11.2.1= 11.6.1

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 check the BIG-IP GUI under System > Software > Image List to determine the installed version
    Affected if Version falls within 11.2.1, 11.5.1-11.5.5, 11.6.1, or 12.1.0-12.1.1
  2. Verify IPSec module is enabled
    Run 'tmsh list net ipsec' or check via GUI under Network > IPSec to see if any IPSec tunnels are configured
    Affected if Any IPSec tunnels exist on the system
  3. Identify wildcard IPSec tunnel configurations
    Run 'tmsh list net ipsec ipsec-profile' and examine the remote identifier settings. Look for profiles using wildcard values such as '0.0.0.0' or empty/any identifiers in the IPSec tunnel definitions
    Affected if IPSec tunnels are configured with wildcard remote identifiers that accept any phase 1 initiator
  4. Review IPSec tunnel endpoint settings
    Run 'tmsh list net ipsec tunnel' and inspect the 'local-address' and 'remote-address' fields. Check for tunnels using 'any' or 0.0.0.0 as endpoints
    Affected if Tunnel endpoints are set to 'any' or 0.0.0.0 allowing unrestricted phase 1 connections

A system is affected if it runs an affected BIG-IP version AND has IPSec tunnels configured with wildcard endpoints that accept any phase 1 initiator credentials.

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 12.1.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched BIG-IP version beyond 12.1.1, 11.6.1, 11.5.5, or 11.2.1. Additionally, restrict IPSec phase 1 credentials to minimize the attack surface and ensure only trusted endpoints can initiate phase 1 negotiations.

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-2017-6156 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