Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-23412

Memory Safety in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager 16.1.3 – 16.1.5

Memory Safety
Published
05 February 2025
Modified
12 November 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/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 0.0040 33th percentile
Risk Priority 45 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-23412 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 33th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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-2025-23412 affects F5 BIG-IP systems configured with an Access Policy Manager (APM) Access Profile on a virtual server. The vulnerability allows an undisclosed request to cause the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) to terminate, resulting in a denial-of-service condition. It is classified under CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

An unauthenticated attacker with network access to the vulnerable virtual server can exploit this issue with low complexity and no user interaction required. Exploitation triggers TMM termination, which disrupts traffic processing and may require manual intervention to restore service on the affected BIG-IP instance.

F5 security advisory K000141003, available at https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000141003, details affected versions and recommended mitigations or patches. Software versions that have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated for this vulnerability.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

When BIG-IP APM Access Profile is configured on a virtual server, undisclosed request can cause TMM to terminate. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

CWE(s)
CWE-120

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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 →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-40067Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-36525Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-53521Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-46405Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-54854Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2023-22422Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-36557Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2021-22992Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-61933Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-53474Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager

Affected Assets

f5
big-ip access policy manager
16.1.3 — 16.1.5 · 17.1.0 — 17.1.2

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)
  • V5.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles require bounds checking and safe buffer handling in design.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.

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 development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

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 directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

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

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.

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

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.

References