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Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2017-6159

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-10-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
F5 BIG-IP LTM, AAM, AFM, Analytics, APM, ASM, DNS, GTM, Link Controller, PEM, Websafe software version 12.0.0 to 12.1.2, 11.6.0 to 11.6.1 are vulnerable to a denial of service attack when the MPTCP option is enabled on a virtual server. Data plane is vulnerable when using the MPTCP option of a TCP profile. There is no control plane exposure. An attacker may be able to disrupt services by causing TMM to restart hence temporarily failing to process traffic.

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 systems running versions 11.6.0-11.6.1 and 12.0.0-12.1.2 contain a denial-of-service vulnerability in the data plane (TMM) when the Multipath TCP (MPTCP) option is enabled on a virtual server's TCP profile. An attacker can trigger a TMM restart by sending specially crafted MPTCP traffic, causing temporary traffic processing failure.

MitigationDisable the MPTCP option on affected TCP profiles applied to virtual servers, or upgrade to a patched version (13.0.0 or later, or 12.1.2 HF1 or later).

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:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip Link ControllerApplication
Affected:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication
Affected:= 11.6.0= 11.6.1= 12.0.0= 12.1.0= 12.1.1= 12.1.2
Big Ip WebsafeApplication
Affected:= 1.0.0

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 access the web UI to view the system version under Device > Overview
    Affected if The version falls within 11.6.0-11.6.1 or 12.0.0-12.1.2
  2. Identify TCP profiles with MPTCP enabled
    Run 'tmsh list ltm profile tcp all-properties' and look for 'mptcp enabled' or 'mptcp enable' in the output
    Affected if Any TCP profile has the MPTCP option set to enabled
  3. Find virtual servers using MPTCP-enabled profiles
    Run 'tmsh list ltm virtual all-properties' and cross-reference the TCP profile names from the previous step to see which virtual servers reference them
    Affected if Any virtual server references a TCP profile with MPTCP enabled
  4. Confirm TMM restart capability exists
    This check confirms exposure: if you match both the version range AND have virtual servers using MPTCP-enabled TCP profiles, the TMM restart condition can be triggered by malicious MPTCP traffic
    Affected if You are on an affected version AND have virtual servers using MPTCP-enabled TCP profiles

You are affected if your BIG-IP version is 11.6.0-11.6.1 or 12.0.0-12.1.2 AND you have any virtual server using a TCP profile with the MPTCP option enabled.

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

Disable the MPTCP option on affected TCP profiles applied to virtual servers, or upgrade to a patched version (13.0.0 or later, or 12.1.2 HF1 or later).

Fix this in Big Ip Local Traffic Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2017-6159 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