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CVE-2023-46747: F5 BIG-IP Configuration Utility Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2023-46747 is rated critical with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 and affects F5 BIG-IP Configuration Utility, along with 20 other products in NVD’s configuration data. Per its scoring, it can be exploited over the network, without authentication, without any user interaction. The scored impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability is the highest available. CISA added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-10-31, which means exploitation in the wild has been observed.

Vulnerability description

Undisclosed requests may bypass configuration utility authentication, allowing an attacker with network access to the BIG-IP system through the management port and/or self IP addresses to execute arbitrary system commands.  Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated

Severity breakdown

CVSS v3.1 9.8: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

  • Attack vector: Network. Exploitable remotely over the network, with no need for local or physical access.
  • Attack complexity: Low. No special conditions; the attack can be repeated reliably.
  • Privileges required: None. No account or prior access is needed.
  • User interaction: None. No action from any user is needed.
  • Scope: Unchanged. Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: High. Total loss of confidentiality; sensitive data can be fully disclosed.
  • Integrity impact: High. Total loss of integrity; data or system state can be fully modified.
  • Availability impact: High. Total loss of availability; the component can be shut down.

Underlying weakness

CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

The product requires authentication, but the product has an alternate path or channel that does not require authentication.

CWE-306: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality

The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.

Affected products

  • F5 Big IP Access Policy Manager: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Advanced Firewall Manager: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Advanced Web Application Firewall: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Carrier Grade Nat: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Ddos Hybrid Defender: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP SSL Orchestrator: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Domain Name System: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Local Traffic Manager: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Policy Enforcement Manager: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Automation Toolchain: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Container Ingress Services: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Application Security Manager: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Analytics: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Application Acceleration Manager: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1
  • F5 Big IP Application Visibility And Reporting: from 13.1.0 up to and including 13.1.5; from 14.1.0 up to and including 14.1.5; from 15.1.0 up to and including 15.1.10; from 16.1.0 up to and including 16.1.4; from 17.1.0 up to and including 17.1.1

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