VulnerabilityPublished 15 Oct 2025Updated 4 Mar 2026

CVE-2025-53868: F5 BIG-IP · OS Command Injection

Affects F5 BIG-IPSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.7 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 15:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.7High

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 38% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
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: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 BIG-IP	Affected 15.1.0 – 17.5.0 4 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately verify if their F5 BIG-IP devices are running affected versions (15.1.0, 16.1.0, 17.1.0, 17.5.0) and restrict SCP and SFTP access to trusted administrators only. Until official patches or updates are released by F5, consider disabling SCP and SFTP access if not essential or implementing strict network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure. Monitor device logs for unusual command execution or access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. Employ multi-factor authentication for administrative access to reduce risk from compromised credentials. Regularly audit appliance mode configurations to ensure no unauthorized changes have been made. Stay informed through F5 security advisories for patches or workarounds addressing this vulnerability. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible, consider deploying host-based intrusion detection systems to detect anomalous command executions on BIG-IP devices.

Description

When running in Appliance mode, a highly privileged authenticated attacker with access to SCP and SFTP may be able to bypass Appliance mode restrictions using undisclosed commands. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2025-53868 is significant for organizations relying on F5 BIG-IP appliances for load balancing, application delivery, and security functions. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized command execution, allowing attackers to bypass Appliance mode restrictions and potentially access or modify sensitive configuration data. This compromises confidentiality and integrity of the device and the network traffic it manages. Given the critical role of BIG-IP devices in enterprise and service provider networks, successful exploitation could disrupt secure application delivery, enable lateral movement within networks, or facilitate further attacks. The vulnerability does not directly affect availability but could indirectly impact service reliability if attackers alter configurations or exfiltrate credentials. Organizations worldwide using the affected versions face elevated risk, especially those in sectors such as finance, telecommunications, government, and critical infrastructure where BIG-IP devices are prevalent.

Summary

CVE-2025-53868 is an OS command injection vulnerability classified under CWE-78 that affects F5 BIG-IP devices operating in Appliance mode. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of special elements in OS commands, allowing a highly privileged authenticated attacker with SCP and SFTP access to execute arbitrary OS commands. This bypasses the intended Appliance mode restrictions designed to limit command execution scope. The affected versions include 15.1.0, 16.1.0, 17.1.0, and 17.5.0. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.7, indicating high severity, with an attack vector of network, low attack complexity, requiring high privileges but no user interaction, and impacting confidentiality and integrity with a scope change. While no public exploits are currently known, the potential for attackers to execute unauthorized commands on critical network infrastructure devices poses a significant risk. The vulnerability does not affect versions that have reached End of Technical Support. The lack of disclosed patch links suggests that mitigation may rely on vendor updates or configuration changes once available. This vulnerability could be leveraged to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data or manipulate device configurations, undermining network security.

CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #9OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.
Architecture and Design
If at all possible, use library calls rather than external processes to recreate the desired functionality.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Sandbox or Jail
Run the code in a "jail" or similar sandbox environment that enforces strict boundaries between the process and the operating system. This may effectively restrict which files can be accessed in a particular directory or which commands can be executed by the software.
Architecture and Design · Attack Surface Reduction
For any data that will be used to generate a command to be executed, keep as much of that data out of external control as possible. For example, in web applications, this may require storing the data locally in the session's state instead of sending it out to the client in a hidden form field.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention in Java (opens in a new tab)
OS Command Injection Defense (opens in a new tab)
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.5 (opens in a new tab)
V5.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Command Line Execution through SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
Command Delimiters (opens in a new tab)
Exploiting Multiple Input Interpretation Layers (opens in a new tab)
Argument Injection (opens in a new tab)
OS Command Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000151902 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Mar 2026, 21:14 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-78

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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