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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2019-6666

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 15.0.1 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 15.0.0-15.0.1, 14.1.0-14.1.0.5, 14.0.0-14.0.0.4, and 13.1.0-13.1.1.4, the TMM process may produce a core file when an upstream server or cache sends the BIG-IP an invalid age header value.

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

The TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) process on BIG-IP devices crashes and produces a core file when processing an invalid Age HTTP header from an upstream server or cache. This is a denial of service vulnerability triggered by a malformed header value.

MitigationApply the appropriate F5 hotfix or upgrade to a patched version outside the affected version ranges (15.1.x+, 14.1.0.6+, 14.0.0.5+, 13.1.1.5+).

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:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Edge GatewayWeb browser
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Fraud Protection ServiceApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.4>= 14.0.0, <= 14.0.0.4>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.0.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1

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
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. Identify the installed BIG-IP version
    Run `tmsh show sys version` on the command line or check the BIG-IP web UI under System > Software Information
    Affected if The version falls within 13.1.0-13.1.1.4, 14.0.0-14.0.0.4, 14.1.0-14.1.0.5, or 15.0.0-15.1.0 (anything below 13.1.1.5, 14.0.0.5, 14.1.0.6, or 15.1.0)
  2. Confirm the system processes HTTP traffic with caching or upstream servers
    Verify that an HTTP profile is enabled and the device is configured to proxy or cache HTTP responses from upstream servers. Check via `tmsh show ltm profile http`
    Affected if HTTP profiles are in use and the system acts as a proxy or cache for upstream HTTP responses containing Age headers
  3. Check for TMM crash logs or core files
    Review `/var/log/ltm` for TMM crash messages or check `/var/core/` for core dumps. Look for entries mentioning Age header or TMM failure
    Affected if Recent TMM crashes are logged with references to malformed HTTP headers or the Age header specifically
  4. Inspect the HTTP traffic for Age header handling
    Capture traffic or logs to observe if upstream servers send Age headers. Use `tmsh capture` or external packet capture to inspect HTTP responses
    Affected if The system processes upstream responses containing Age headers that could be malformed

A system is affected if it runs a BIG-IP version within the affected ranges and processes HTTP traffic from upstream servers or caches that may send invalid Age headers, potentially causing TMM crashes.

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 15.0.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate F5 hotfix or upgrade to a patched version outside the affected version ranges (15.1.x+, 14.1.0.6+, 14.0.0.5+, 13.1.1.5+).

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2019-6666 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