CVE-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 vulnerability. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Software Development (EoSD) are not evaluated.

CVSS: 9.8Criticalscored by CISA
Exploited in the wild: Yes, in CISA KEV since 3 Nov 2021CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 17 Nov 2021known use in ransomware campaignspublic exploit code
EPSS: 99.9%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.1% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix: Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
Published: 31 Mar 2021analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. Apply updates per vendor instructions. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)

Summary

Triage

Attack surface: Server-side
Exploitable: At runtime
Attack vector: network
Weakness: CWE-918 Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
Can a WAF block it?: Partly. See why

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

Product	Affected versions	Vendor says fixed in
BIG-IP; BIG-IQ	BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2Vendor says fixed in: not stated	Not stated by the vendor

As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.

Products named in our analysis

f5:big-ip_access_policy_manager
f5:big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager
f5:big-ip_advanced_web_application_firewall
f5:big-ip_analytics
f5:big-ip_application_acceleration_manager
f5:big-ip_application_security_manager
f5:big-ip_ddos_hybrid_defender
f5:big-ip_domain_name_system
f5:big-ip_fraud_protection_service
f5:big-ip_global_traffic_manager
f5:big-ip_link_controller
f5:big-ip_local_traffic_manager
f5:big-ip_policy_enforcement_manager
f5:big-iq_centralized_management
f5:ssl_orchestrator

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? Partly. SSRF makes the server call a URL the attacker picks. A WAF can block well-known targets such as cloud metadata addresses, but not every internal host.

Also consider: egress filter · IMDSv2

Based on the weakness type only; no CVE-specific evidence yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog: Listed since 3 Nov 2021. Known use in ransomware campaigns.
CISA due date: 17 Nov 2021, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public exploit code: Yes: 1 on Exploit-DB · 1 Metasploit module · 15 GitHub proofs of concept · 1 Nuclei template
CISA SSVC: exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 29 Jan 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

GitHub proofs of concept

and 11 more repositories

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

17 Mar 2021First public exploit or proof of concept
31 Mar 2021Published15 days later
3 Nov 2021Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)216 days (about 7 months) later
17 Nov 2021CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)14 days later
29 Jan 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active1,170 days (about 3 years) later
21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated265 days (about 9 months) later
12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com387 days (about 1 year) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Metric	Value	What it means
Attack vector	NetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network.	Reachable over the internet or any routable network.
Attack complexity	LowRepeatable attack, no special conditions.	Repeatable attack, no special conditions.
Privileges required	NoneThe attacker needs no prior access.	The attacker needs no prior access.
User interaction	NoneNo victim action needed.	No victim action needed.
Scope	UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.	Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality	HighTotal data disclosure possible.	Total data disclosure possible.
Integrity	HighComplete modification possible.	Complete modification possible.
Availability	HighFull outage possible.	Full outage possible.

Common questions

Is CVE-2021-22986 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-22986 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2021-22986?

CVE-2021-22986 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2021-22986?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2021-22986. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2021-22986 affect?

CVE-2021-22986 affects f5:big-ip_access_policy_manager, f5:big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager, f5:big-ip_advanced_web_application_firewall, f5:big-ip_analytics, and 11 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVD CVE.org CVE Details Source

4 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Where the data on this page comes from

CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
NVD: CVSS and CPE data
CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
Exploit-DB: published exploits
Metasploit Framework: exploit and scanner modules
Nuclei templates: detection templates
PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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