Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-41956

Memory Safety in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager 17.1.0 – 17.1.3

Published
13 May 2026
Modified
24 June 2026
Patch / 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: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 0.0026 18th percentile
Risk Priority 43 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-41956 is a high-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) 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 18th 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.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

When a classification profile is configured on a UDP virtual server, undisclosed requests can cause the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) to terminate.  Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

CWE(s)

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-42919Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2026-40618Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-48008Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-53474Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2024-28889Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2026-41218Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2024-32761Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-61951Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2025-61990Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager
CVE-2024-33608Same product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager

Affected Assets

f5
big-ip access policy manager
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip advanced firewall manager
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip advanced web application firewall
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip analytics
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip application acceleration manager
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip application security manager
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip application visibility and reporting
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip automation toolchain
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip carrier-grade nat
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
f5
big-ip container ingress services
17.1.0 — 17.1.3 · 17.5.0 — 17.5.1 · 16.1.0 — 16.1.6
+13 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)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.

Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.

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 prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

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.

finds

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

none

Change-management gates can enforce security reviews that catch buffer issues.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References