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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2023-42768

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.1.9 / 16.1.4 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
When a non-admin user has been assigned an administrator role via an iControl REST PUT request and later the user's role is reverted back to a non-admin role via the Configuration utility, tmsh, or iControl REST. BIG-IP non-admin user can still have access to iControl REST admin resource.  Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) 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 confidence

A privilege escalation vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP where role changes made via iControl REST PUT request are not properly synchronized when the user's role is later reverted to non-admin through Configuration utility, tmsh, or iControl REST. The user retains admin-level iControl REST access despite appearing to have non-admin privileges in other management interfaces.

MitigationIdentify affected users by reviewing role assignment history, then properly revoke and re-grant their roles through iControl REST to ensure synchronization of role changes across all management interfaces.

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:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip Advanced Web Application FirewallApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip Application Visibility And ReportingApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4
Big Ip Carrier Grade NatApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.5>= 14.1.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Check BIG-IP version
    Run `tmsh show /sys version` or query the iControl REST endpoint `/mgmt/tm/sys/version` to retrieve the installed version
    Affected if The version falls within 13.1.0-13.1.5, 14.1.0-14.1.5, 15.1.0-15.1.8, or 16.1.0-16.1.3
  2. Identify users with role assignment history
    Query the iControl REST endpoint `/mgmt/tm/auth/user/` to list all users and their current roles, then review audit logs or role assignment history to identify users whose roles were modified via PUT request and subsequently changed through Configuration utility, tmsh, or iControl REST
    Affected if There exist users who had admin role applied via iControl REST PUT and later had their role reverted to non-admin through other interfaces
  3. Verify admin iControl REST access for seemingly non-admin users
    For users who appear non-admin in Configuration utility or tmsh, attempt an authenticated iControl REST request to an admin-only endpoint such as `/mgmt/tm/sys/` or `/mgmt/tm/auth/user/`. If the request succeeds with admin-level response, the user retains unauthorized admin access
    Affected if A user displays non-admin role in GUI or tmsh but can successfully perform admin-level operations via iControl REST API

The environment is affected if the installed BIG-IP version is within the affected ranges AND there are users who retain admin-level iControl REST access despite appearing to have non-admin privileges in Configuration utility, tmsh, or other management interfaces.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 15.1.9 / 16.1.4 or later
Fixed in 15.1.916.1.4
Interim mitigation

Identify affected users by reviewing role assignment history, then properly revoke and re-grant their roles through iControl REST to ensure synchronization of role changes across all management interfaces.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to BIG-IP 15.1.9 or later, or BIG-IP 16.1.4 or later (depending on your major version branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current BIG-IP version using the web UI (Traffic Management Shell -> show sys version) or via iControl REST (GET /mgmt/tm/sys/version)
  2. 2. For BIG-IP versions 15.1.0-15.1.8: Upgrade to version 15.1.9 or later
  3. 3. For BIG-IP versions 16.1.0-16.1.3: Upgrade to version 16.1.4 or later
  4. 4. For BIG-IP versions 13.1.x and 14.1.x: These versions have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) per F5 policy - upgrade to a supported version (15.1.9+ or 16.1.4+)
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the fix by creating a test user, assigning admin role via iControl REST PUT, reverting to non-admin, and confirming the session is properly terminated and admin access is revoked
  6. 6. As a temporary mitigation before upgrade, ensure any affected non-admin users with previously elevated privileges have their sessions explicitly invalidated via tmsh: delete auth user <username> session or via iControl REST
Caveat Review F5 release notes for your target version to check for any breaking changes or known issues before upgrading; test in non-production environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
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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-2023-42768 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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