CVE-2021-22986 — F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution

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 vu

01What is this vulnerability?

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.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / 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 12.1.5.3, BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2021-11-03. Ransomware use: Known.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2021-03-31T14:04:47.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:25:50.810Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2021-11-03
• BOD 22-01 due: 2021-11-17

09References

• support.f5.com — https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K03009991
• packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162059/F5-iControl-Server-Side-Request-Forg…
• packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162066/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Executi…