F5 · BIG-IP APM · F5 BIG-IP APM Heap-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Verdict
Patch soon · actively exploited, reachable from the internet without credentials, and in the top 25% of CVEs by near-term exploitation probability
Added to CISA KEV 2026-09-22 · exploited in the wild for 5 days
CVSS 9.3 CRITICAL. The score is a summary; these three components are the part that decides whether something scanning the internet can use it.
| Attack vector | networkreachable over the network, with no local access needed |
|---|---|
| Privileges required | noneneeds no credentials at all |
| User interaction | nonecan be triggered with nobody interacting with the page or request |
| Base vector | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/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 |
| Weakness | CWE-122 |
This describes the vulnerability. It says nothing about whether your systems run it.
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.0223, which places it in the top 25% of all tracked CVEs. The percentile is the more useful half: 0.18 in absolute terms sounds low until you know most of the internet-facing software in the world scores under that.
| EPSS probability | 0.0223 |
|---|---|
| Percentile | 0.820 — top 25% |
| Added to KEV | 2026-09-22 |
|---|---|
| Days exploited | 5 |
| Federal remediation due | not set |
| Ransomware use | no known ransomware campaign use |
Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.
When a BIG-IP APM access policy and an OAuth profile are configured on a virtual server, specific malicious traffic can lead to remote code execution (RCE). This vulnerability is only present when BIG-IP APM is configured as an OAuth Authorization Server. Deployments using APM strictly as an OAuth Client / Resource Server (without OAuth authorization server profiles configured) are not affected by this vulnerability. Impact: This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to perform remote code execution. The BIG-IP system in Appliance mode is also vulnerable. This is a data plane issue; there is no control plane exposure. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.