Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication · F5
CVE-2020-27713
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 · uneditedIn certain configurations on version 13.1.3.4, when a BIG-IP AFM HTTP security profile is applied to a virtual server and the BIG-IP system receives a request with specific characteristics, the connection is reset and the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) leaks memory.
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 · moderate confidenceIn F5 BIG-IP AFM version 13.1.3.4, when an HTTP security profile is applied to a virtual server and the system receives specially crafted requests, the TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) leaks memory while resetting connections. This memory leak in the data plane can lead to resource exhaustion over time.
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 Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
= 13.1.3.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify BIG-IP AFM versionRun 'tmsh show sys version' or check the BIG-IP GUI under System > Software > Images to confirm the installed version is exactly 13.1.3.4Affected if The version is 13.1.3.4 exactly (this CVE affects only this specific version)
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Locate HTTP security profilesRun 'tmsh list ltm profile http-security' to list all HTTP security profiles configured on the systemAffected if Any HTTP security profiles exist on the device - the vulnerability triggers when these are applied to virtual servers
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Identify virtual servers using HTTP security profilesRun 'tmsh list ltm virtual all' and examine the 'profile' section of each virtual server to see if an http-security profile is referencedAffected if Any virtual server has an HTTP security profile assigned in its profile configuration
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Monitor TMM memory usageRun 'tmsh show sys tmm-stat' or check the GUI under Dashboard > Memory to observe current TMM memory consumption; compare against baseline normal levelsAffected if TMM memory usage is abnormally high or steadily increasing without returning to baseline, indicating potential memory leak from this or other issues
You are affected only if your BIG-IP AFM version is exactly 13.1.3.4 AND you have virtual servers with HTTP security profiles receiving traffic, as the memory leak requires both conditions to be present.
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 BIG-IP to a version beyond 13.1.3.4 where the issue is resolved, or review and adjust HTTP security profile configurations on affected virtual servers to avoid the trigger conditions.
Fix this in Big Ip Advanced Firewall Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27713 — 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-2020-27713 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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