Big Iq Centralized ManagementApplication · F5
CVE-2020-5870
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 BIG-IQ 5.2.0-7.0.0, high availability (HA) synchronization mechanisms do not use any form of authentication for connecting to the peer.
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 confidenceIn BIG-IQ versions 5.2.0 through 7.0.0, the High Availability (HA) synchronization mechanism lacks authentication, allowing any device on the network to establish a sync connection to the peer without credentials. This unauthenticated access could enable an attacker to intercept or manipulate HA synchronization data.
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
>= 5.2.0, <= 5.4.0>= 6.0.0, <= 6.1.0>= 7.0.0, < 7.1.0CVSS 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed BIG-IQ versionRun the command 'tmsh show sys version' on the BIG-IQ device or check the version displayed in the BIG-IQ web interface under the System > Software Management sectionAffected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 5.2.0-5.4.0, 6.0.0-6.1.0, or 7.0.0-7.0.x (versions below 7.1.0)
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Verify if High Availability synchronization is enabledIn the BIG-IQ web interface, navigate to Device Management > Devices and check if the device is configured as part of an HA pair. Alternatively, run 'tmsh show cm device-group' to list device groups and identify sync-only or sync-failover groupsAffected if The device is a member of a sync device-group with HA synchronization enabled
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Confirm network exposure of HA sync port 4353Run 'tmsh show net listen' or 'ss -ln | grep 4353' to verify the HA sync port is listening. Then check firewall rules with 'tmsh list net firewall rule all' or review network access lists to determine if port 4353 is accessible from untrusted networksAffected if Port 4353 is listening and accessible from network segments that include untrusted or non-HA devices
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Review HA peer configuration for unexpected devicesRun 'tmsh list cm device-group <group-name>' to view the peer devices configured in the HA group. Verify that only expected, authorized peer IP addresses are listedAffected if The HA device-group contains unexpected peer IP addresses or shows connections from unknown devices
You are affected if BIG-IQ version is below 7.1.0, HA synchronization is enabled, and port 4353 is accessible from untrusted network segments.
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 data7.1.0
Upgrade BIG-IQ to version 7.0.1 or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict network access to HA sync ports (port 4353) using firewall rules or VLAN segmentation to prevent unauthorized peers from reaching the HA interface.
Fix this in Big Iq Centralized Management
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5870 — 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-2020-5870 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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