Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication · F5
CVE-2020-27714
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 · uneditedOn the BIG-IP AFM version 15.1.0-15.1.0.5, 14.1.0-14.1.3, and 13.1.0-13.1.3.5, when a Protocol Inspection Profile is attached to a FastL4 virtual server with the protocol field configured to either Other or All Protocols, the TMM may experience a restart if the profile processes non-TCP traffic.
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 versions 15.1.0-15.1.0.5, 14.1.0-14.1.3, and 13.1.0-13.1.3.5, a Protocol Inspection Profile attached to a FastL4 virtual server with the protocol field set to 'Other' or 'All Protocols' causes a TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) restart when processing non-TCP traffic, resulting in a denial of service.
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
>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.3.1>= 15.0.0, < 15.1.1CVSS 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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Check BIG-IP AFM versionRun 'tmsh show sys version' or access the web UI to view the system version. Compare the installed version against the affected ranges: 13.1.0-13.1.3.5, 14.1.0-14.1.3, 15.1.0-15.1.0.5Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected version ranges
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Identify Protocol Inspection ProfilesRun 'tmsh list l7 protocol-inspection profile all' or navigate to Security > Protocol Inspection > Profiles in the web UI to list all configured Protocol Inspection profilesAffected if Any Protocol Inspection profiles exist in the configuration
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Identify FastL4 virtual serversRun 'tmsh list ltm virtual all' and look for virtual servers with 'profile fastl4' or access the web UI to view virtual server configurationsAffected if Any virtual servers are configured with the FastL4 profile
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Check protocol field setting in attached profilesFor each FastL4 virtual server, examine any attached Protocol Inspection Profile and verify the protocol field setting by running 'tmsh list l7 protocol-inspection profile <profile_name>'Affected if A Protocol Inspection Profile with the protocol field set to 'Other' or 'All Protocols' is attached to a FastL4 virtual server
You are affected if your BIG-IP AFM version is within the affected ranges AND you have a Protocol Inspection Profile with protocol set to 'Other' or 'All Protocols' attached to a FastL4 virtual server.
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 data14.1.3.115.1.1
Avoid attaching Protocol Inspection Profiles configured with 'Other' or 'All Protocols' to FastL4 virtual servers, or upgrade to a patched version once available. Alternatively, restrict the protocol field to specific TCP protocols only.
Fix this in Big Ip Advanced Firewall Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $2,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27714 — 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-2020-27714 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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