Multiple Vulnerabilities in F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Products Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution

by CIRT Team

31 Mar 2021

in Security Advisories & Alerts

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DESCRIPTION:
Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in F5 products, the most
severe of which could allow for remote code execution.

* BIG-IP and BIG-IP Advanced WAF/ASM are a family of products covering
software and hardware designed around application availability, access
control, and security solutions.
* BIG-IQ enables administrators to centrally manage BIG-IP
infrastructure across the IT landscape. It discovers, tracks, manages,
and monitors physical and virtual BIG-IP devices – in the cloud, on
premise, or co-located at your preferred datacenter.

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow for
arbitrary code execution. Depending on the privileges associated with
the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or
delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose
accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be
less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.

IMPACT:
Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in F5 products, the most
severe of which could allow for remote code execution. The details of
the vulnerabilities are as follows:

* iControl REST unauthenticated remote command execution vulnerability
(CVE-2021-22986)
** This vulnerability allows for unauthenticated attackers with network
access to the iControl REST interface, through the BIG-IP management
interface and self IP addresses, to execute arbitrary system commands,
create or delete files, and disable services. This vulnerability can
only be exploited through the control plane and cannot be exploited
through the data plane. Exploitation can lead to complete system
compromise. The BIG-IP system in Appliance mode is also vulnerable.
* Appliance mode TMUI authenticated remote command execution
vulnerability (CVE-2021-22987)
** This vulnerability allows authenticated users with network access to
the Configuration utility, through the BIG-IP management port, or self
IP addresses, to execute arbitrary system commands, create or delete
files, or disable services. This vulnerability can only be exploited
through the control plane and cannot be exploited through the data
plane. Exploitation can lead to complete system compromise and breakout
of Appliance mode. Appliance mode is enforced by a specific license or
may be enabled or disabled for individual vCMP guest instances.
* TMUI authenticated remote command execution vulnerability (CVE-2021-22988)
** This vulnerability allows authenticated users with network access to
the Configuration utility, through the BIG-IP management port or self IP
addresses, to execute arbitrary system commands, create or delete files,
or disable services. This vulnerability can only be exploited through
the control plane and cannot be exploited through the data plane.
Exploitation can lead to complete system compromise.
* Advanced WAF/ASM TMUI authenticated remote command execution
vulnerability (CVE-2021-22989)
** This vulnerability allows highly privileged authenticated users with
the roles Administrator, Resource Administrator, or Application Security
Administrator with network access to the Configuration utility, through
the BIG-IP management port or self IP addresses, to execute arbitrary
system commands, create or delete files, or disable services. This
vulnerability can only be exploited through the control plane and cannot
be exploited through the data plane. Exploitation can lead to complete
system compromise and breakout of Appliance mode. Appliance mode is
enforced by a specific license or may be enabled or disabled for
individual vCMP guest instances.
* Advanced WAF/ASM TMUI authenticated remote command execution
vulnerability (CVE-2021-22990)
** This vulnerability allows highly privileged authenticated users with
the roles Administrator, Resource Administrator, or Application Security
Administrator with network access to the Configuration utility, through
the BIG-IP management port or self IP addresses, to execute arbitrary
system commands, create and delete files, or disable services. This
vulnerability can only be exploited through the control plane and cannot
be exploited through the data plane. Exploitation can lead to complete
system compromise.
* TMM buffer-overflow vulnerability (CVE-2021-22991)
** This vulnerability affects systems with one or more of the following
configurations:
*** BIG-IP APM – A virtual server associated with a BIG-IP APM profile.
All BIG-IP APM use cases are vulnerable.
*** BIG-IP ASM – Only BIG-IP ASM Risk Engine use cases are vulnerable.
BIG-IP ASM Risk Engine is currently available to Early Access customers
only and requires a special license.

*** Secure Web Gateway (SWG) – URL categorization is fundamental to the
operation of SWG. All SWG use cases are vulnerable. SWG requires a
separate subscription.
*** SSL Orchestrator – Use of the SSL Orchestrator Categorization macro
exposes this vulnerability.
*** BIG-IP system – A virtual server associated with an HTTP and a local
traffic policy that has a rule condition with the HTTP URI or HTTP
Referer and Use normalized URI options enabled (the Use normalized URI
option is disabled by default). This vulnerability can only be exploited
through the data plane and cannot be exploited through the control
plane. Exploitation can lead to complete system compromise.
* Advanced WAF/ASM buffer-overflow vulnerability (CVE-2021-22992)
** A sophisticated attacker must have control over the back-end web
servers (pool members) or the ability to manipulate the server-side HTTP
responses to the virtual server to exploit this vulnerability. With this
level of back-end control, the attacker may cause the BIG-IP Advanced
WAF/ASM system to experience a denial-of-service (DoS). In the worst
case, the attacker may execute arbitrary code on the BIG-IP Advanced
WAF/ASM system. This vulnerability can only be exploited through the
data plane and cannot be exploited through the control plane.
Exploitation can lead to complete system compromise.

SYSTEM AFFECTED:
* BIG-IP (All modules) prior to version 16.0.1.1
* BIG-IQ prior to version 8.0.0
* BIG-IP Advanced WAF/ASM prior to version 16.0.1.1

RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend the following actions be taken:
* Apply appropriate patches or appropriate mitigations provided by F5 to
vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing.
* Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative
rights) to diminish the effects of a successful attack.
* Apply the Principle of Least Privilege to all systems and services.