Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-23239

RCE in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager 17.1.1

RCECommand Injection
Published
05 February 2025
Modified
04 February 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0075 52th percentile
Risk Priority 32 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-23239 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager. Its CVSS base score is 8.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 48% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-23239 is an authenticated remote command injection vulnerability (CWE-77) affecting an undisclosed iControl REST endpoint in F5 BIG-IP systems when running in Appliance mode. It requires the attacker to be logged in with a highly-privileged role. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.7 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N), indicating high severity due to network accessibility, low attack complexity, required high privileges, no user interaction, changed scope, and high impacts to confidentiality and integrity.

An attacker with a highly-privileged account can exploit this remotely by sending malicious input to the vulnerable iControl REST endpoint, enabling command injection. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to cross a security boundary, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data exfiltration, or system modification within the affected F5 environment.

The F5 security advisory at https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000138757 provides details on affected versions, patches, and mitigation steps. Note that software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated for fixes.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

When running in Appliance mode, and logged into a highly-privileged role, an authenticated remote command injection vulnerability exists in an undisclosed iControl REST endpoint. A successful exploit can allow the attacker to cross a security boundary. Note: Software versions which…

more

have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-41800Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2024-22093Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2026-41953Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-31644Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2026-40698Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2024-21782Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-41431Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2026-40061Same product: F5 Big-Ip Domain Name System
CVE-2022-1388Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-22846Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager

Affected Assets

f5
big-ip access policy manager
17.1.1
f5
big-ip advanced firewall manager
17.1.1
f5
big-ip analytics
17.1.1
f5
big-ip application acceleration manager
17.1.1
f5
big-ip application security manager
17.1.1
f5
big-ip domain name system
17.1.1
f5
big-ip fraud protection service
17.1.1
f5
big-ip global traffic manager
17.1.1
f5
big-ip link controller
17.1.1
f5
big-ip local traffic manager
17.1.1
+1 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References