VulnerabilityPublished 15 Oct 2025Updated 16 Oct 2025

CVE-2025-53860: F5 F5OS – Appliance · Invocation of Process Using Visible Sensitive Information

Affects F5 F5OS – ApplianceSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.1 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.1Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Oct 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
F5 F5OS - Appliance	Affected =1.8.0 =1.5.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Since no patches are currently indicated, European organizations should implement strict access controls to limit administrative access to F5OS appliances, ensuring only trusted personnel have high-level privileges. Network segmentation should isolate management interfaces from general network access to reduce the risk of local exploitation. Enable and enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all privileged accounts to mitigate credential compromise risks. Regularly audit and monitor logs for suspicious activity related to process invocation or access to HSM-related functions. Employ host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) on management workstations to detect unauthorized attempts to access or manipulate F5 appliances. Where possible, upgrade to supported versions of F5OS that may have addressed this or related vulnerabilities. Engage with F5 support for any available workarounds or upcoming patches. Additionally, review cryptographic key management policies to ensure keys can be rotated or revoked promptly if compromise is suspected. Conduct security awareness training focused on insider threat risks and privilege misuse.

Description

A vulnerability exists in F5OS-A software that allows a highly privileged authenticated attacker to access sensitive FIPS hardware security module (HSM) information on F5 rSeries systems. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

Impact

For European organizations, especially those in sectors relying heavily on secure network infrastructure such as finance, telecommunications, government, and critical infrastructure, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality of cryptographic keys and operations. The F5 rSeries appliances are commonly deployed as load balancers, firewalls, and SSL/TLS terminators, making them pivotal in securing network traffic. Compromise of HSM information could enable attackers to decrypt sensitive communications, impersonate services, or bypass security controls. This could lead to data breaches, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR), and loss of customer trust. The requirement for high privileges and local access somewhat limits the risk to insider threats or attackers who have already compromised the network perimeter. However, given the strategic importance of these devices, the impact of a successful exploit could be severe. The lack of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not preclude future exploitation attempts. Organizations in Europe must consider the potential cascading effects on confidentiality and the broader security posture.

CWE-214Invocation of Process Using Visible Sensitive Information (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
A process is invoked with sensitive command-line arguments, environment variables, or other elements that can be seen by other processes on the operating system.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.2 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000148625 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Oct 2025, 00:55 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-214

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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