dbcve.org
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2025-61960

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.1.6.1 / 17.1.3 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 a per-request policy is configured on a BIG-IP APM portal access virtual server, undisclosed traffic 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 vulnerability exists in F5 BIG-IP APM (Access Policy Manager) when a per-request policy is configured on a portal access virtual server. Undisclosed incoming traffic triggers a critical failure causing the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) to terminate, resulting in denial of service. The TMM is the core data plane component handling all traffic processing.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch or upgrade to a supported BIG-IP version that addresses this vulnerability. Until then, consider implementing additional traffic filtering or rate limiting on affected virtual servers to reduce exposure.

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, < 16.1.6.1>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.3>= 17.5.0, < 17.5.1.3

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 the installed BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or 'bigpipe version' to display the installed BIG-IP version
    Affected if The version falls within 16.1.0 to 16.1.6.0, 17.1.0 to 17.1.2, or 17.5.0 to 17.5.1.2
  2. Verify APM module is provisioned
    Run 'tmsh list sys provision apm' to check if Access Policy Manager is provisioned
    Affected if APM shows as provisioned (minimum level: nominal) and the version is in the affected range
  3. Identify per-request policies in the configuration
    Run 'tmsh list apm policy access-policy' to list all access policies, then filter for those with 'per-request' in the type or profile configuration
    Affected if Any per-request access policy exists in the configuration
  4. Check for portal access virtual servers using per-request policies
    Run 'tmsh list ltm virtual' and examine the 'access-profile' or 'per-flow-policy' fields; check if the associated access profile contains a per-request policy and the virtual server is configured for portal access
    Affected if A virtual server has an access profile with a per-request policy AND is configured for portal access type (not standard VPN or SSL VPN)
  5. Confirm the virtual server is exposed to traffic
    Review the virtual server's 'destination' and 'mask' settings, and check if it has an enabled 'ip address' listener
    Affected if The vulnerable virtual server is in a 'enabled' state and accepting traffic

You are affected if you are running a vulnerable BIG-IP version (16.1.x before 16.1.6.1, 17.1.x before 17.1.3, or 17.5.x before 17.5.1.3), have APM provisioned, and have a per-request policy configured on a portal access virtual server that is currently accepting traffic.

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 16.1.6.1 / 17.1.3 / 17.5.1.3 or later
Fixed in 16.1.6.117.1.317.5.1.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch or upgrade to a supported BIG-IP version that addresses this vulnerability. Until then, consider implementing additional traffic filtering or rate limiting on affected virtual servers to reduce exposure.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.1.6.1 or later for 16.1.x; 17.1.3 or later for 17.1.x; 17.5.1.3 or later for 17.5.x

  1. Determine the current BIG-IP APM version (e.g., via the web UI under Maintenance > Disk Installation, or using tmsh show /sys version).
  2. If the version is 16.1.x and less than 16.1.6.1, plan an upgrade to version 16.1.6.1 or later.
  3. If the version is 17.1.x and less than 17.1.3, plan an upgrade to version 17.1.3 or later.
  4. If the version is 17.5.x and less than 17.5.1.3, plan an upgrade to version 17.5.1.3 or later.
  5. Schedule a maintenance window and perform the upgrade following F5's standard upgrade procedures.
  6. After upgrade, verify that per-request policies on portal access virtual servers function correctly and that TMM does not crash.

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 / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2025-61960 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