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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2024-21782

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.1.9 / 16.1.4 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
BIG-IP or BIG-IQ Resource Administrators and Certificate Managers who have access to the secure copy (scp) utility but do not have access to Advanced shell (bash) can execute arbitrary commands with a specially crafted command string. This vulnerability is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2020-5873. 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 command injection vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ's SCP (secure copy) utility. Users with Resource Administrator or Certificate Manager roles who normally lack bash shell access can execute arbitrary system commands by using specially crafted strings within SCP commands. The flaw exists because the previous fix for CVE-2020-5873 was incomplete, leaving a bypass in the command sanitization logic.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for CVE-2024-21782 when released. In the interim, restrict or disable SCP access for non-administrative users and monitor for suspicious command execution patterns.

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:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0
Big Iq Centralized ManagementApplication
Affected:>= 8.0.0, <= 8.3.0
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0
Big Ip Fraud Protection ServiceApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.9>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.4= 17.1.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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. Identify the installed F5 product and version
    Run `tmsh show sys version` or check the BIG-IP/iQ version through the web UI (System > Software Management > ISO Image)
    Affected if The version falls within: 15.1.0 to 15.1.8, 16.1.0 to 16.1.3, or 17.1.0 for BIG-IP modules; or 8.0.0 to 8.3.0 for BIG-IQ Centralized Management
  2. Confirm the product is BIG-IP or BIG-IQ
    Run `tmsh show sys hardware` or check the system information in the web UI under Dashboard
    Affected if The system is running BIG-IP (any module) or BIG-IQ Centralized Management
  3. Check if SCP utility is accessible to non-administrative users
    Review user role assignments in Access Policy Manager (Access Policy > Role Based Access) or run `tmsh list auth user` to list users and their assigned roles
    Affected if Users with Resource Administrator or Certificate Manager roles have SCP utility access
  4. Identify users with vulnerable roles
    Run `tmsh list auth role all` or check the user role configuration in the web UI under User Management > Role
    Affected if Any user account is assigned Resource Administrator or Certificate Manager role without bash shell access restrictions
  5. Audit SCP command execution logs
    Review system logs under /var/log/audit/ or use the web UI (System > Logs > Audit) for SCP command entries, looking for unusual command patterns
    Affected if There are SCP command executions from users in Resource Administrator or Certificate Manager roles containing unexpected characters or command structures

The environment is affected if running a vulnerable BIG-IP version (15.1.0-15.1.8, 16.1.0-16.1.3, or 17.1.0) or BIG-IQ version (8.0.0-8.3.0) with SCP utility accessible to users holding Resource Administrator or Certificate Manager roles.

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

Apply vendor-supplied patches for CVE-2024-21782 when released. In the interim, restrict or disable SCP access for non-administrative users and monitor for suspicious command execution patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

Big IP products: 15.1.9+, 16.1.4+, or 17.1.1+ | Big Iq Centralized Management: 8.4.0+

  1. 1. Identify the specific Big IP product (APM, AFM, Analytics, AAM, ASM, DNS, or Fraud Protection Service) and current version running in your environment.
  2. 2. For Big IP products (APM, AFM, Analytics, AAM, ASM, DNS, Fraud Protection Service): Upgrade to version 15.1.9 or later, 16.1.4 or later, or 17.1.1 or later (17.1.0 is affected).
  3. 3. For Big Iq Centralized Management: Upgrade to version 8.4.0 or later to address the vulnerability.
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify the version is no longer in the affected version ranges.
  5. 5. Test the SCP functionality to ensure the upgrade did not break legitimate operations.
  6. 6. Review and restrict administrative access to the secure copy (scp) utility according to the principle of least privilege.
Caveat Review release notes for each product version for potential breaking changes; test in non-production environment before deploying

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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2024-21782 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