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Big Ip Advanced Web Application FirewallApplication · F5

CVE-2026-22548

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.1.3 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 BIG-IP Advanced WAF or ASM security policy is configured on a virtual server, undisclosed requests along with conditions beyond the attacker's control can cause the bd process 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

A denial of service vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP Advanced WAF and ASM allows undisclosed requests (when a security policy is configured on a virtual server) to cause the bd (background daemon) process to terminate. Successful exploitation requires specific conditions beyond the attacker's full control, making reliable exploitation difficult.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when available. Until then, assess the risk exposure based on whether affected virtual servers with security policies are exposed to untrusted networks.

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 Web Application FirewallApplication
Affected:>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.3
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 17.1.0, < 17.1.3

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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 `tmsh show /sys software` to obtain the installed version
    Affected if Version is >= 17.1.0 and < 17.1.3
  2. Verify ASM or Advanced WAF module is provisioned
    Run `tmsh list /sys provision` and check for asm or apm (for Advanced WAF) provision level set to nominal or dedicated
    Affected if ASM or Advanced WAF module is provisioned (any level)
  3. Identify virtual servers with security policies
    Run `tmsh list /ltm virtual` and for each virtual server check if a security policy is assigned via `tmsh list /ltm virtual <name>`, looking for the `security-nat-policy` or `policy` field referencing an ASM/Advanced WAF policy
    Affected if Any virtual server has an ASM or Advanced WAF security policy attached
  4. Confirm bd process is running
    Run `bigstart status bd` or `ps aux | grep bd` to check if the background daemon process is active
    Affected if The bd process is running on a system meeting the above version and configuration conditions

System is affected if running BIG-IP Advanced WAF or ASM version 17.1.0 through 17.1.2 with a security policy configured on any virtual server, regardless of bd process status (the DoS would cause bd to terminate).

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 17.1.3 or later
Fixed in 17.1.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch when available. Until then, assess the risk exposure based on whether affected virtual servers with security policies are exposed to untrusted networks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

17.1.3 or later

  1. Identify all BIG-IP devices running BIG-IP Advanced WAF or ASM versions 17.1.0 through 17.1.2
  2. Obtain BIG-IP version 17.1.3 or later from F5 Networks download portal
  3. Review F5 upgrade documentation and release notes for 17.1.3
  4. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
  5. Perform a complete configuration backup of the BIG-IP device
  6. Upgrade BIG-IP to version 17.1.3 or later following F5 recommended upgrade procedures
  7. After upgrade, verify the bd process is running and security policies are functioning correctly

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

Fix this in Big Ip Advanced Web Application Firewall 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.

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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-2026-22548 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