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Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2021-22986

F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Published Mar 31, 2021 · catalog updated Jun 16, 2026 · F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management

Patch now

CVE-2021-22986 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog, due Nov 17, 2021. Confirm F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Gaps on this record

  • No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
Severity
Critical9.8
Known exploitation
CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
99.90%
Remediation
Remediation guidance
Affected products
cpe f5/big-ip access policy manager · cpe f5/big-ip advanced firewall manager · vendor F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management

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.

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • cpe f5/big-ip access policy managerversion unspecified
  • cpe f5/big-ip advanced firewall managerversion unspecified
  • vendor F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Managementversion unspecified

How to fix CVE-2021-22986

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

CVE-2021-22986 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog, due Nov 17, 2021. Confirm F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Which versions are affected?

Affected version ranges are not on this record. Apply updates per vendor instructions.

What should an analyst verify?

CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization; CWE-918: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF). EPSS 99.90%. The CISA KEV listing is the exploitation evidence. A public exploit reference is linked in Sources. That is not the same as confirmed exploitation. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Mar 31, 2021 · Catalog

    Detected

    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.

  2. Nov 3, 2021 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  3. Nov 17, 2021 · CISA KEV

    Remediation due

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  4. Jun 16, 2026 · Catalog

    Updated

    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.

Sources

  • CISA KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2021-22986

    F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management contain a remote code execution vulnerability in the iControl REST interface that allows unauthenticated attackers with network access to execute system commands, create or delete files, and disable services.

    cisa.gov
  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2021-22986

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2021-22986

    30-day exploitation probability 99.9%

    first.org
  • Exploit DatabasePublic exploit reference49738

    Public archive entry. The exploit body is not stored here.

    exploit-db.com
  • Metasploit ModulesPublic exploit moduleexploit_linux/http/f5_icontrol_rest_ssrf_rce

    Public module reference (excellent). Module source is not copied into this catalog.

    rapid7.com
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2021-22986

    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 vu

    nvd.nist.gov
  • Packet Storm SecurityCited referencehttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162059/F5-iControl-Server-Side-Request-Forgery-Remote-Command-Execution.html

    Packet Storm link already published on the finding.

    packetstormsecurity.com
  • Packet Storm SecurityCited referencehttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162066/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html

    Packet Storm link already published on the finding.

    packetstormsecurity.com
  • VulnCheck KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2021-22986

    F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management contain a remote code execution vulnerability in the iControl REST interface that allows unauthenticated attackers with network access to execute system commands, create or delete files, and disable services.

    vulncheck.com

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 17, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.