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Big Ip Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2025-22891

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.1.10.6.0.11.6 / 16.1.5 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 PEM Control Plane listener Virtual Server is configured with Diameter Endpoint profile, undisclosed traffic can cause the Virtual Server to stop processing new client connections and an increase in memory resource utilization. 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

A denial-of-service vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP PEM Control Plane Virtual Servers with Diameter Endpoint profile allows remote attackers to cause the Virtual Server to stop accepting new client connections via undisclosed traffic patterns. The vulnerability results in increased memory resource utilization that can render the service unavailable.

MitigationApply F5 security updates or upgrade to a supported version that addresses this vulnerability. If patching is not immediately feasible, consider disabling the Diameter Endpoint profile on affected virtual servers as a temporary mitigation.

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 Policy Enforcement ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.10.6.0.11.6>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2

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. Check BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or view the version in the BIG-IP GUI (System > Software > Image). Compare the version to the affected ranges: 15.1.0 to 15.1.10.6.0.11.6, 16.1.0 to 16.1.5, or 17.1.0 to 17.1.2.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed affected version ranges.
  2. Verify PEM module is provisioned
    Run 'tmsh show sys provision' or check in BIG-IP GUI under System > Resource Provisioning. Look for 'pem' in the output.
    Affected if PEM (Policy Enforcement Manager) is provisioned and running.
  3. Identify Control Plane Virtual Servers
    Run 'tmsh list ltm virtual' and look for virtual servers with 'pems' or 'control-plane' in the name, or check in the GUI under Local Traffic > Virtual Servers. Note the virtual server names and their configurations.
    Affected if Control Plane Virtual Servers exist in the configuration.
  4. Check for Diameter Endpoint profile
    For each Control Plane Virtual Server identified, run 'tmsh list ltm virtual <name>' and inspect the 'profile' section for a 'diameter' profile, or view the virtual server profile settings in the GUI under the PEM tab.
    Affected if A Diameter Endpoint profile is assigned to the Control Plane Virtual Server.
  5. Monitor for memory issues
    Check current memory utilization on the BIG-IP device via 'tmsh show sys memory' or in the GUI under Dashboard > Memory. Look for unusually high memory consumption on the control plane.
    Affected if Memory utilization is abnormally high or the virtual server has become unresponsive to new connections.

The environment is affected if BIG-IP is running an affected version (15.1.0-15.1.10.6.0.11.6, 16.1.0-16.1.5, or 17.1.0-17.1.2) with PEM provisioned and a Diameter Endpoint profile enabled on Control Plane Virtual Servers.

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 15.1.10.6.0.11.6 / 16.1.5 / 17.1.2 or later
Fixed in 15.1.10.6.0.11.616.1.517.1.2
Interim mitigation

Apply F5 security updates or upgrade to a supported version that addresses this vulnerability. If patching is not immediately feasible, consider disabling the Diameter Endpoint profile on affected virtual servers as a temporary mitigation.

Recommended fix High confidence

BIG-IP 15.1.11.6 (or 15.1.10.6.0.11.6) / 16.1.5 / 17.1.2 based on current branch

  1. 1. Identify the current BIG-IP PEM version by navigating to System > Software Management > ISO Image (or using 'tmsh show sys version')
  2. 2. Determine which version branch your current installation falls into (15.1.x, 16.1.x, or 17.1.x)
  3. 3. Schedule a maintenance window and create a full configuration backup using 'tmsh save sys config'
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fixed version ISO from F5 Downloads (my.f5.com): 15.1.11.6 (or 15.1.10.6.0.11.6 as listed) for 15.1.x, 16.1.5 for 16.1.x, or 17.1.2 for 17.1.x
  5. 5. Upload and install the new software image via BIG-IP web interface (System > Software Management > ISO Image > Upload) or via tmsh
  6. 6. Boot into the new version and verify the BIG-IP PEM Control Plane listener Virtual Server is operational
  7. 7. Confirm new client connections are being accepted and memory utilization has normalized
Caveat Standard BIG-IP upgrade considerations apply - verify compatibility with other modules and review release notes for any known issues before upgrading

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

Fix this in Big Ip Policy Enforcement Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
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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-2025-22891 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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