F5 BIG-IP up to 15.1.10/16.1.6/17.1.2/17.5.1 Security Policy recursion

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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7.3$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in F5 BIG-IP up to 15.1.10/16.1.6/17.1.2/17.5.1 and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Security Policy Handler. Performing a manipulation results in recursion. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-54858. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in F5 BIG-IP up to 15.1.10/16.1.6/17.1.2/17.5.1. It has been classified as critical. This affects an unknown part of the component Security Policy Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a recursion vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-674. The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

When a BIG-IP Advanced WAF or BIG-IP ASM Security Policy is configured with a JSON content profile that has a malformed JSON schema, and the security policy is applied to a virtual server, undisclosed requests can cause the bd process to terminate.  Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

It is possible to read the advisory at my.f5.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-54858 since 10/04/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1499 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 270591 (F5 Networks BIG-IP : BIG-IP Advanced WAF and ASM vulnerability (K000156621)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 15.1.10.8, 16.1.6.1, 17.1.3 or 17.5.1.3 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (270591). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA CVSS-B Score: 🔒
CNA CVSS-BT Score: 🔒
CNA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.3

VulDB Base Score: 7.5
VulDB Temp Score: 7.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 7.5
CNA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Recursion
CWE: CWE-674 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 270591
Nessus Name: F5 Networks BIG-IP : BIG-IP Advanced WAF and ASM vulnerability (K000156621)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: BIG-IP 15.1.10.8/16.1.6.1/17.1.3/17.5.1.3

Timelineinfo

10/04/2025 CVE reserved
10/15/2025 +11 days Advisory disclosed
10/15/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/17/2025 +2 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: f5.com

Advisory: K000156621
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-54858 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-54858
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-328695

Entryinfo

Created: 10/15/2025 16:19
Updated: 10/17/2025 06:49
Changes: 10/15/2025 16:19 (76), 10/17/2025 06:49 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:17E:103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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