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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2019-6668

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 15.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The BIG-IP APM Edge Client for macOS bundled with BIG-IP APM 15.0.0-15.0.1, 14.1.0-14.1.0.5, 14.0.0-14.0.0.4, 13.1.0-13.1.1.5, 12.1.0-12.1.5, and 11.5.1-11.6.5 may allow unprivileged users to access files owned by root.

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 BIG-IP APM Edge Client for macOS contains a file permission vulnerability in versions 15.0.0-15.0.1, 14.1.0-14.1.0.5, 14.0.0-14.0.0.4, 13.1.0-13.1.1.5, 12.1.0-12.1.5, and 11.5.1-11.6.5 that allows unprivileged users to access files owned by root, indicating insecure file permissions or improper privilege separation in the client installation.

MitigationUpgrade the BIG-IP APM Edge Client for macOS to a patched version as specified in F5 advisory, or if upgrade is not possible, restrict file system access to the client installation directory to prevent unauthorized access to root-owned files.

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:>= 11.5.1, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.1.5>= 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Determine if APM Edge Client is installed
    Open Terminal and search for F5 Networks or BIG-IP related application directories in /Applications and /Library, or check for the presence of F5 client components using: ls -la /Applications | grep -i f5 or ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/ | grep -i f5
    Affected if No F5 or BIG-IP client components are found on the system, meaning the product is not installed.
  2. Identify installed version
    Look for version information in the application bundle or related config files. Check /Applications/F5* or similar paths for Info.plist files containing version data, or use: defaults read "/Applications/F5 Networks/APM Edge Client.app/Contents/Info" CFBundleVersion 2>/dev/null
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or is not within the affected ranges: 11.5.1-11.6.5, 12.1.0-12.1.5, 13.1.0-13.1.1.5, 14.0.0-14.0.0.4, 14.1.0-14.1.0.5, or 15.0.0-15.1.0.
  3. Inspect file ownership in client directory
    Run: ls -la /Applications/F5* or the identified installation path, then execute: find "/Applications/F5*" -user root -type f to list files owned by root within the client directory
    Affected if Files owned by root exist within the F5 client installation directory, which is unexpected for client software and indicates the vulnerability condition.
  4. Check file permission settings
    Execute: find "/Applications/F5*" -perm -004 -type f -ls to identify files with world-readable permissions (o+r) within the client directory
    Affected if Files with read permissions for all users (mode includes 4 in the others field, such as 644 or 755) are present and owned by root, confirming insecure file permissions.

A user is affected if the BIG-IP APM Edge Client for macOS is installed and its version falls within the affected ranges, with root-owned files readable by unprivileged users in the installation directory.

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

Upgrade the BIG-IP APM Edge Client for macOS to a patched version as specified in F5 advisory, or if upgrade is not possible, restrict file system access to the client installation directory to prevent unauthorized access to root-owned files.

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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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-2019-6668 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