dbcve.org
Big Iq Centralized ManagementApplication · F5

CVE-2020-5858

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 15.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 15.0.0-15.0.1.2, 14.1.0-14.1.2.2, 13.1.0-13.1.3.2, 12.1.0-12.1.5, and 11.5.2-11.6.5.1 and BIG-IQ 7.0.0, 6.0.0-6.1.0, and 5.2.0-5.4.0, users with non-administrator roles (for example, Guest or Resource Administrator) with tmsh shell access can execute arbitrary commands with elevated privilege via a crafted tmsh command.

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

Non-administrator users (e.g., Guest or Resource Administrator) with tmsh shell access on affected BIG-IP and BIG-IQ versions can execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges by crafting specific tmsh commands, enabling complete privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches for the affected BIG-IP and BIG-IQ versions. Until patched, restrict tmsh shell access to administrator roles only.

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 Iq Centralized ManagementApplication
Affected:>= 5.2.0, <= 5.4.0>= 6.0.0, <= 6.1.0= 7.0.0
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1
Big Ip Edge GatewayWeb browser
Affected:>= 11.5.2, <= 11.6.5>= 12.1.0, <= 12.1.5>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.2>= 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed product and version
    Run 'tmsh show /sys version' or 'bigip_version' command to determine the exact BIG-IP or BIG-IQ version running in your environment
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected ranges: BIG-IQ 5.2.0-5.4.0, 6.0.0-6.1.0, or 7.0.0; BIG-IP 11.5.2-11.6.5, 12.1.0-12.1.5, 13.1.0-13.1.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2, or 15.0.0-15.0.1
  2. List all user accounts with tmsh shell access
    Run 'tmsh list /auth user' to enumerate all configured users and their assigned roles
    Affected if Any user with a non-administrator role such as Guest, Resource Administrator, or other limited roles has tmsh shell access enabled
  3. Verify user role assignments
    Run 'tmsh list /auth user <username>' for each non-admin user to inspect their specific role and shell access permissions
    Affected if A non-administrator user has tmsh (Traffic Management Shell) access granted, which allows command execution beyond their intended role permissions
  4. Review access policy manager user roles
    Check the Access Policy Manager (APM) configuration for user role assignments via 'tmsh list /apm aaa' or review user role mappings in the GUI under Access Policy Manager
    Affected if APM-configured users with limited roles (not admin) have shell access capabilities
  5. Examine recent tmsh command logs
    Review system logs or bash history for non-admin users executing tmsh commands, or check '/var/log/audit' for tmsh execution records
    Affected if Non-administrator users have successfully executed tmsh commands, indicating the vulnerability is actively present

You are affected if your system runs any affected BIG-IP or BIG-IQ version AND has non-administrator users (Guest, Resource Administrator, or similar roles) with tmsh shell access enabled, regardless of whether privilege escalation has been observed.

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 vendor-supplied patches for the affected BIG-IP and BIG-IQ versions. Until patched, restrict tmsh shell access to administrator roles only.

Fix this in Big Iq Centralized Management Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5858 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-5858 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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