Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication · F5
CVE-2021-22985
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 BIG-IP APM version 16.0.x before 16.0.1.1, under certain conditions, when processing VPN traffic with APM, TMM consumes excessive memory. A malicious, authenticated VPN user may abuse this to perform a DoS attack against the APM. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Software Development (EoSD) are not evaluated.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP APM versions 16.0.x before 16.0.1.1 allows an authenticated VPN user to cause the TMM (Traffic Management Module) to consume excessive memory by sending specially crafted VPN traffic, resulting in denial of service against the APM.
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 Application Security ManagerApplication
>= 11.6.1, < 11.6.5.2>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.5.3>= 13.1.0, < 13.1.3.6>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.8>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.2>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1.1CVSS 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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Verify APM module is provisionedRun 'tmsh list /sys provision' or check the GUI under System > Resource Provisioning to confirm Access Policy Manager (APM) is provisionedAffected if APM is not provisioned, the vulnerability does not apply since the flaw targets APM specifically
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Check BIG-IP APM versionRun 'tmsh show /sys version' or inspect /config/bigip_base.conf to obtain the installed APM versionAffected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 11.6.1 to 11.6.5.1, 12.1.0 to 12.1.5.2, 13.1.0 to 13.1.3.5, 14.1.0 to 14.1.2.7, 15.1.0 to 15.1.1.x, or 16.0.0 to 16.0.1.0
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Confirm VPN access profile is configuredRun 'tmsh list /apm profile access' or check the GUI under Access Policy > Access Profiles to see if any VPN access profiles existAffected if No access/VPN profiles are configured, the attack surface is reduced but the vulnerability could still be triggered if any profile exists
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Monitor TMM memory consumptionRun 'tmsh show /ltm global-statistics' or 'tmsh show /tmm stats' to observe TMM memory usage over time, particularly during VPN trafficAffected if TMM memory usage shows abnormal growth or approaches exhaustion during normal VPN operation
The environment is affected if APM is provisioned, the installed version matches any of the vulnerable version ranges, and VPN access profiles are configured, allowing an authenticated user to trigger the memory exhaustion condition.
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 data11.6.5.212.1.5.313.1.3.6
Upgrade BIG-IP APM to version 16.0.1.1 or later to patch the memory exhaustion vulnerability.
Fix this in Big Ip Application Security Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22985 — 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-2021-22985 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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- 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
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