CVE-2021-22986: F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical severity, CVSS 9.8. Actively exploited: in CISA KEV since 2021-11-03. EPSS: 99.9% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

On BIG-IP versions 16.0.x before 16.0.1.1, 15.1.x before 15.1.2.1, 14.1.x before 14.1.4, 13.1.x before 13.1.3.6, and 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3 amd BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3 and 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2, the iControl REST interface has an unauthenticated remote command execution vulnerability. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Software Development (EoSD) are not evaluated.

Affected products

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Web Application Firewall: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Analytics: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Application Security Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Ddos Hybrid Defender: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Domain Name System: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Fraud Protection Service: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Link Controller: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IP Policy Enforcement Manager: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)
F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management: from 6.0.0, before 6.1.0 (fixed in 6.1.0); from 7.0.0, before 7.0.0.2 (fixed in 7.0.0.2); from 7.1.0, before 7.1.0.3 (fixed in 7.1.0.3)
F5 SSL Orchestrator: from 12.1.0, before 12.1.5.3 (fixed in 12.1.5.3); from 13.1.0, before 13.1.3.6 (fixed in 13.1.3.6); from 14.1.0, before 14.1.4 (fixed in 14.1.4); from 15.1.0, before 15.1.2.1 (fixed in 15.1.2.1); from 16.0.0, before 16.0.1.1 (fixed in 16.0.1.1)

Published 2021-03-31. Last modified 2026-06-17.