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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2019-6612

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.5.9 / 11.6.4 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 BIG-IP 14.0.0-14.1.0.1, 13.0.0-13.1.1.4, 12.1.0-12.1.4, 11.6.1-11.6.3.4, and 11.5.2-11.5.8, DNS query TCP connections that are aborted before receiving a response from a DNS cache may cause TMM to restart.

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

In F5 BIG-IP devices, DNS query TCP connections that are terminated or aborted before receiving a response from the DNS cache trigger a critical failure in the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM), causing it to restart. This results in denial of service for all traffic processed by the affected TMM instance.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied F5 software update/patch for the specific BIG-IP version in use. As an interim control, consider implementing DNS query rate limiting or connection timeout tuning at upstream devices to reduce premature connection aborts.

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 Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Link ControllerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Local Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2
Big Ip Global Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, < 11.5.9>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.4>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.4.1>= 13.0.0, < 13.1.1.5>= 14.0.0, < 14.1.0.2

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:3.1/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 BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or 'F5 web UI: System > Software Management > ISO Image' to identify the installed version
    Affected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 11.5.2-11.5.8, 11.6.1-11.6.3, 12.1.0-12.1.4.0, 13.0.0-13.1.1.4, or 14.0.0-14.1.0.1
  2. Confirm DNS services are enabled
    Run 'tmsh show ltm dns' or check via web UI: Local Traffic > DNS > DNS Profiles to see if DNS caching or DNS forwarding is configured
    Affected if DNS cache or DNS forwarding is enabled on the device
  3. Identify TMM restarts
    Review TMM crash logs via 'tmsh show ltm crash' or check /var/log/ltm for 'TMM' restart entries related to DNS
    Affected if TMM has restarted due to DNS query handling failures
  4. Check for DNS TCP connection handling
    Monitor DNS TCP connection states using 'tmsh show ltm dns statistics' or capture traffic to observe TCP connections being terminated prematurely
    Affected if DNS TCP connections are being dropped or aborted before response is received

You are affected if the device runs a vulnerable BIG-IP version within the listed ranges AND has DNS cache or DNS forwarding services enabled, allowing external DNS TCP connections to trigger TMM restarts.

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 11.5.9 / 11.6.4 / 12.1.4.1 or later
Fixed in 11.5.911.6.412.1.4.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied F5 software update/patch for the specific BIG-IP version in use. As an interim control, consider implementing DNS query rate limiting or connection timeout tuning at upstream devices to reduce premature connection aborts.

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy 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-2019-6612 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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