Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5
CVE-2023-43125
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 · uneditedBIG-IP APM clients may send IP traffic outside of the VPN tunnel. 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 · moderate confidenceBIG-IP APM (Access Policy Manager) clients may send IP traffic outside of the encrypted VPN tunnel, causing a tunnel leak vulnerability. This split-tunneling issue allows potentially sensitive traffic to be exposed on the public network instead of being protected by the VPN, which could enable interception or data exfiltration.
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
>= 14.1.5.2, <= 14.1.5.6>= 15.1.8, <= 15.1.10>= 16.1.3.3, <= 16.1.4= 13.1.5.1= 17.1.0
Big Ip Access Policy Manager ClientApplication
>= 7.2.3, <= 7.2.4CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/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 if BIG-IP APM is deployedCheck for F5 BIG-IP devices in your environment and confirm APM module is licensed and provisioned. On the BIG-IP command line, run: tmsh show /sys module | grep -i apmAffected if APM module is not present or not provisioned - the vulnerability only affects systems with APM enabled
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Check BIG-IP APM software versionOn the BIG-IP command line, run: tmsh show /sys version or cat /etc/product_version. Compare the version to affected ranges: 14.1.5.2 through 14.1.5.6, 15.1.8 through 15.1.10, 16.1.3.3 through 16.1.4, 13.1.5.1, 17.1.0Affected if Installed version falls within any of the affected version ranges listed above
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Check BIG-IP APM Client version on endpointsOn client endpoints with APM Client installed, check the version through the client application or installed programs list. Affected versions: 7.2.3 through 7.2.4Affected if APM Client version is between 7.2.3 and 7.2.4 inclusive
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Verify split-tunneling configuration in VPN profileIn BIG-IP APM, navigate to Access Policy / VPN / Split Tunneling or use TMSH: tmsh list /apm profile/access /<profile_name> split-tunneling. Check whether split-tunneling is enabled and what networks are included or excludedAffected if Split-tunneling is enabled with network exclusions - this is the condition that enables the tunnel leak vulnerability to cause exposure of sensitive traffic
Your environment is affected if you have BIG-IP APM with an affected software version AND split-tunneling is enabled with network exclusions, causing traffic to route outside the VPN tunnel.
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 dataUpgrade BIG-IP APM to a patched version; for EoTS versions, migrate to a supported release. Review and validate VPN access policies to ensure all intended traffic is routed through the tunnel.
Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-43125 — 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-2023-43125 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
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