F5 BIG-IP APM: memory corruption flaw under attack

What is affected

F5 BIG-IP APM is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.

F5 BIG-IP APM contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability when access policy and an OAuth profile are configured on a virtual server. This vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated attacker to perform remote code execution.

What an attacker can do

This is a memory corruption flaw. It lets an attacker corrupt the program's memory by feeding it specially crafted content: a web page, a file or a network message. The result ranges from a crash to the attacker running their own code.

How it is reached

Over the internet or network

Access the attacker needs

No account needed

Does the victim have to do something?

No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

1. At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
2. If you administer F5 BIG-IP APM at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
3. If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.

Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• my.f5.commy.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000162605

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on September 22, 2026, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by September 25, 2026, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 2.2% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 82% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 9.3 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

When a BIG-IP APM access policy and an OAuth profile are configured on a virtual server, specific malicious traffic can lead to remote code execution (RCE). This vulnerability is only present when BIG-IP APM is configured as an OAuth Authorization Server. Deployments using APM strictly as an OAuth Client / Resource Server (without OAuth authorization server profiles configured) are not affected by this vulnerability. Impact: This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to perform remote code execution. The BIG-IP system in Appliance mode is also vulnerable. This is a data plane issue; there is no control plane exposure. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.