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Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2024-21763

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 BIG-IP AFM Device DoS or DoS profile is configured with NXDOMAIN attack vector and bad actor detection, undisclosed queries can cause the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) to terminate.  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 confidence

This is a denial of service vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP AFM (Advanced Firewall Module). When a Device DoS or DoS profile is configured with the NXDOMAIN attack vector and bad actor detection enabled, specially crafted undisclosed queries can cause the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) to terminate, resulting in service disruption.

MitigationApply the appropriate F5 software update for BIG-IP versions still under support. For systems that have reached End of Technical Support, upgrade to a supported version. Review DoS profile configurations to ensure NXDOMAIN attack vector settings are appropriately scoped.

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 Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.1

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify BIG-IP AFM module is provisioned
    Run 'tmsh list sys provision afm' or check the GUI under System > Resource Provisioning to confirm AFM is provisioned
    Affected if AFM module is not provisioned, the vulnerability does not apply
  2. Confirm BIG-IP version is in affected range
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or check the GUI under Diagnostics > Software Update > RPM Version List. Affected versions are >= 17.1.0 and < 17.1.1
    Affected if Version is 17.1.0.x (where x is any patch level) - versions outside this range (below 17.1.0 or 17.1.1 and above) are not affected
  3. Identify configured DoS profiles
    Run 'tmsh list ltm profile dos' to list all DoS profiles, or check GUI under Security > DoS Protection > DoS Profiles
    Affected if No DoS profiles exist, the vulnerability cannot be triggered
  4. Check NXDOMAIN attack vector is enabled on DoS profiles
    For each DoS profile, run 'tmsh list ltm profile dos <profile_name> dns-category nxdomain' or inspect via GUI under the specific DoS profile's DNS category settings
    Affected if NXDOMAIN attack vector is not enabled in any DoS profile, the specific attack vector is not present
  5. Verify bad actor detection is enabled on affected profiles
    Run 'tmsh list ltm profile dos <profile_name> dns-category' and check for 'bad-actor-detection enabled' or view via GUI under the DoS profile's DNS category configuration
    Affected if Bad actor detection is not enabled on profiles with NXDOMAIN enabled, the full exploit condition is not met

You are affected if you have BIG-IP AFM provisioned, running version 17.1.0.x, and have a DoS profile with both NXDOMAIN attack vector and bad actor detection enabled.

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 17.1.1 or later
Fixed in 17.1.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate F5 software update for BIG-IP versions still under support. For systems that have reached End of Technical Support, upgrade to a supported version. Review DoS profile configurations to ensure NXDOMAIN attack vector settings are appropriately scoped.

Recommended fix High confidence

17.1.1 or later

  1. Download BIG-IP version 17.1.1 or later from the F5 downloads portal
  2. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment to verify functionality
  3. Apply the upgrade to the BIG-IP AFM device
  4. Verify that the NXDOMAIN attack vector and bad actor detection features continue to function correctly after upgrade
  5. Monitor TMM stability and check for any crashes

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

Fix this in Big Ip Advanced Firewall Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

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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-2024-21763 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