VulnerabilityPublished 13 May 2026

CVE-2026-24464: F5 BIG-IP · Path Traversal

Affects F5 BIG-IPSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.8 Medium · fixed in 21.0.0.2 : update F5 BIG-IP when convenient.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.8Medium

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

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 59% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 21.0.0.2, 17.5.1.6, 17.1.3.2

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
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 13 May 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), 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

Upgrade F5 BIG-IP to 21.0.0.2, 17.5.1.6 or 17.1.3.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
F5BIG-IP	Affected >=21.0.0 <21.0.0.2 >=17.5.0 <17.5.1.6 >=17.1.0 <17.1.3.2 >=16.1.0	Fixed in 21.0.0.2 17.5.1.6 17.1.3.2
F5f5/big-ip`pkg:rpm/f5/big-ip`Other threats	Affected 16.1.0 – 21.0.0 4 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Restrict administrator access to trusted personnel and consider additional access controls or compensating controls until a patch is available.

Description

When running in Appliance mode, a directory traversal vulnerability exists in an undisclosed iControl REST endpoint that may allow an authenticated attacker with administrator role privileges to cross a security boundary and delete files. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

Impact

An authenticated administrator can exploit this vulnerability to perform directory traversal attacks that allow deletion of files outside intended boundaries, impacting system integrity. There is no confidentiality or availability impact reported. The vulnerability could lead to unauthorized modification or removal of critical files, potentially disrupting system operations or configurations.

Summary

This vulnerability (CVE-2026-24464) in F5 BIG-IP involves a path traversal issue in an undisclosed iControl REST endpoint when running in Appliance mode. An attacker with administrator role privileges can exploit this to bypass security boundaries and delete files on the system. The affected versions are 21.0.0, 17.5.0, 17.1.0, and 16.1.0. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N), indicating network attack vector, low attack complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, scope changed, no confidentiality impact, high integrity impact, and no availability impact.

CWE-35Path Traversal: '.../...//' (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2021: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize '.../...//' (doubled triple dot slash) sequences that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000160911 (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 13 May 2026, 16:08 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-35

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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