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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2020-5945

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.1.2.8 / 15.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
88/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

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
In BIG-IP versions 16.0.0-16.0.0.1, 15.1.0-15.1.0.5, and 14.1.0-14.1.2.7, undisclosed TMUI page contains a stored cross site scripting vulnerability (XSS). The issue allows a minor privilege escalation for resource admin to escalate to full admin.

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

A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in an undisclosed page of the BIG-IP Traffic Management User Interface (TMUI). The vulnerability allows a user with resource administrator privileges to escalate their privileges to full administrator through malicious script injection stored on the affected TMUI page.

MitigationUpgrade BIG-IP to a patched version (16.0.0.2+, 15.1.0.6+, or 14.1.2.8+) or apply the appropriate hotfix per F5's security advisory.

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:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Fraud Protection ServiceApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Global Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.1>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/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. Check BIG-IP version
    Run `tmsh show /sys version` or view the version displayed on the TMUI login page
    Affected if The installed version falls within 14.1.0 to 14.1.2.7, 15.1.0.x, or 16.0.0.x (any version less than 14.1.2.8, 15.1.1, or 16.0.1)
  2. Identify installed modules
    Run `tmsh list sys provision` to list all provisioned BIG-IP modules
    Affected if Any of the following modules are provisioned: APM, AFM, Analytics, AAM, ASM, DNS, FPS, or GTM
  3. Confirm TMUI is accessible
    Verify the Traffic Management User Interface is reachable at the management IP on port 443/tms
    Affected if TMUI is exposed and accessible (the vulnerability exists within the TMUI interface)

You are affected if your BIG-IP version is 14.1.0-14.1.2.7, 15.1.0-15.1.0.x, or 16.0.0-16.0.0.x AND any of the affected modules (APM/AFM/Analytics/AAM/ASM/DNS/FPS/GTM) are provisioned AND TMUI is accessible to users with resource administrator privileges.

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 14.1.2.8 / 15.1.1 / 16.0.1 or later
Fixed in 14.1.2.815.1.116.0.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade BIG-IP to a patched version (16.0.0.2+, 15.1.0.6+, or 14.1.2.8+) or apply the appropriate hotfix per F5's security advisory.

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2020-5945 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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