Big Ip Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication · F5
CVE-2018-5508
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 · uneditedOn F5 BIG-IP PEM versions 13.0.0, 12.0.0-12.1.3.1, 11.6.0-11.6.2, 11.5.1-11.5.5, or 11.2.1, under certain conditions, TMM may crash when processing compressed data though a Virtual Server with an associated PEM profile using the content insertion option.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP PEM allows TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) to crash when processing compressed data through a Virtual Server with a PEM profile that has the content insertion option enabled. The crash occurs under specific conditions related to compressed data handling.
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 Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication
>= 11.5.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.0, <= 11.6.2>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3= 11.2.1= 13.0.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check BIG-IP versionRun 'tmsh show /sys version' or 'tmsh show /sys hardware' to identify the installed BIG-IP versionAffected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 11.2.1, 11.5.1-11.5.5, 11.6.0-11.6.2, 12.0.0-12.1.3, or 13.0.0
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Confirm PEM module is licensed and installedRun 'tmsh list /ltm profile pem' to list PEM profiles, or check if PEM is listed in 'tmsh show /sys license'Affected if PEM module is present and configured on the device
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Identify virtual servers with PEM profilesRun 'tmsh list /ltm virtual' and look for 'pem' in the profiles section, or inspect specific virtual servers with 'tmsh list /ltm virtual <name>'Affected if Any virtual server has a PEM profile attached
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Verify content insertion is enabled in PEM profileRun 'tmsh list /ltm profile pem <profile_name>' and check for 'insert-x-forwarded-for enabled' or content insertion settings under the PEM profile configurationAffected if The content insertion option (such as insert-x-forwarded-for or similar content insertion feature) is enabled in the PEM profile
A user is affected if their BIG-IP version is one of the listed versions AND they have a virtual server with a PEM profile that has the content insertion option enabled, as the crash occurs when processing compressed data through such a configuration.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched F5 BIG-IP version, or disable the content insertion option in the PEM profile if upgrading is not immediately feasible.
Fix this in Big Ip Policy Enforcement Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5508 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-5508 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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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