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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2025-36557

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.1.5 / 17.1.2 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 an HTTP profile with the Enforce RFC Compliance option is configured on a virtual server, undisclosed requests 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 (or similar F5 Traffic Management Microkernel). When an HTTP profile has the 'Enforce RFC Compliance' option enabled on a virtual server, certain specially crafted HTTP requests can cause the TMM process to crash and terminate, resulting in service disruption for traffic handled by that virtual server.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch for this vulnerability. As a temporary workaround, consider disabling the 'Enforce RFC Compliance' option on affected HTTP profiles if operationally feasible, though this may reduce security hardening.

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:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip Fraud Protection ServiceApplication
Affected:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.5>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.2
Big Ip Global Traffic ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 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. Identify installed BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show /sys version' or 'bigstart version' from the command line to obtain the installed software version.
    Affected if The version falls within 16.1.0 to 16.1.4 (inclusive) or 17.1.0 to 17.1.1 (inclusive).
  2. List HTTP profiles with RFC compliance enabled
    Run 'tmsh list /ltm http-profile one-line' to view all HTTP profiles, then filter for profiles where 'enforce-rfc-compliance' is set to 'enabled'.
    Affected if Any HTTP profile exists with the 'enforce-rfc-compliance' option set to 'enabled' (value 'yes' or 'true').
  3. Identify virtual servers using affected HTTP profiles
    Run 'tmsh list /ltm virtual' to list virtual server configurations, then cross-reference the 'http-profile' or 'profile' setting with the HTTP profiles identified in step 2.
    Affected if A virtual server references an HTTP profile that has 'enforce-rfc-compliance' enabled.

You are affected if your BIG-IP version is between 16.1.0 and 16.1.4 or between 17.1.0 and 17.1.1, AND you have a virtual server using an HTTP profile with the 'Enforce RFC Compliance' option 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 16.1.5 / 17.1.2 or later
Fixed in 16.1.517.1.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch for this vulnerability. As a temporary workaround, consider disabling the 'Enforce RFC Compliance' option on affected HTTP profiles if operationally feasible, though this may reduce security hardening.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to BIG-IP 16.1.5 or 17.1.2 (or later stable release within the same major version branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current BIG-IP version by running 'tmsh show sys version' or checking the web UI Dashboard.
  2. 2. Confirm the HTTP profile with 'Enforce RFC Compliance' is in use by reviewing virtual server configurations via 'tmsh list ltm virtual <name> profiles' or the web UI.
  3. 3. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade as TMM may restart during the update.
  4. 4. Download the appropriate hotfix from F5 Downloads (my.f5.com) - version 16.1.5 for 16.x branches or 17.1.2 for 17.x branches.
  5. 5. Upload the ISO/image to the BIG-IP via 'tmsh install sys software' or the web UI Configuration utility.
  6. 6. Install the new volume and reboot the device, or use 'tmsh install sys software <volume>' followed by reboot.
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the version is >= 16.1.5 or >= 17.1.2 using 'tmsh show sys version'.
  8. 8. Test that virtual servers with RFC-compliant HTTP profiles still function correctly and TMM remains stable.
Caveat Cross-version upgrades (e.g., 16.x to 17.x) may introduce behavior changes; always review F5 release notes and test in non-production 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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2025-36557 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data