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Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2018-5513

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 13.1.0.4 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
On F5 BIG-IP 13.1.0-13.1.0.3, 13.0.0, 12.1.0-12.1.3.3, 11.6.1-11.6.3.1, 11.5.1-11.5.5, or 11.2.1, a malformed TLS handshake causes TMM to crash leading to a disruption of service. This issue is only exposed on the data plane when Proxy SSL configuration is enabled. The control plane is not impacted by this issue.

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

A malformed TLS handshake vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP allows remote attackers to crash the TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) via specially crafted TLS handshake messages. This DoS condition is triggered only when Proxy SSL is enabled on the data plane, while the control plane remains unaffected.

MitigationApply F5 BIG-IP software updates that address this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not possible, evaluate disabling Proxy SSL on affected virtual servers as a temporary workaround, though this may impact SSL proxy functionality.

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 Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 13.0.0
Big Ip Edge GatewayWeb browser
Affected:>= 11.2.1, <= 11.5.5>= 11.6.1, <= 11.6.3>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.3>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.0.4= 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. Identify installed BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or check System > Software Management in the GUI
    Affected if Version falls within 11.2.1-11.5.5, 11.6.1-11.6.3, 12.1.0-12.1.3, 13.0.0, or 13.1.0-13.1.0.4
  2. Determine if affected modules are deployed
    Run 'tmsh show sys module' or check the GUI under System > Software Management to see which modules are licensed and running
    Affected if Any of the listed modules (LTM, AAM, AFM, Analytics, APM, ASM, DNS, Edge Gateway) are installed
  3. Verify if Proxy SSL is enabled on virtual servers
    Run 'tmsh list ltm virtual all' and search for 'proxy-ssl enabled' in the virtual server configuration, or check via GUI under Local Traffic > Virtual Servers
    Affected if Proxy SSL is enabled on any virtual server in the data plane

You are affected only if running a vulnerable version with an affected module AND Proxy SSL is enabled on the data plane; if Proxy SSL is disabled, the DoS condition cannot be triggered even on vulnerable versions.

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 13.1.0.4
Interim mitigation

Apply F5 BIG-IP software updates that address this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not possible, evaluate disabling Proxy SSL on affected virtual servers as a temporary workaround, though this may impact SSL proxy functionality.

Fix this in Big Ip Application Acceleration Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2018-5513 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