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F5 BIG-IP EUVDEUVD-2026-30003

| CVE-2026-42919 HIGH
Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121)
2026-05-13 f5 GHSA-w3xh-p84j-v7qw
7.1
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: f5
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Recon
    Obtain or compromise high-privilege admin credentials
  2. Delivery
    Authenticate to BIG-IP management interface
  3. Exploit
    Craft malicious request triggering buffer overflow
  4. Install
    Overwrite stack memory and return address
  5. C2
    Execute arbitrary code as elevated system user
  6. Execute
    Cross administrative security boundary
  7. Impact
    Achieve full system compromise

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Stack buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires authenticated access with high-level administrative privileges (PR:H per CVSS vector) to the BIG-IP system via network access (AV:N). The attacker must possess valid administrative credentials or have compromised them. No special product configuration, non-default settings, or optional features are mentioned in the description; the vulnerability exists in core BIG-IP functionality accessible to any high-privilege admin. User interaction is not required (UI:N). The vulnerability does not require network pivoting or lateral movement - it is a direct privilege escalation from admin to system-level within the same BIG-IP instance. The primary limiting factor is the authentication requirement; unauthenticated remote attackers cannot trigger this vulnerability, and low-privilege users (if BIG-IP has granular admin roles) would be blocked by the PR:H requirement.

Impact

This vulnerability presents moderate real-world risk despite a CVSS score of 6.7. The attack vector is network-accessible (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L), but is heavily mitigated by the requirement for high-privilege authentication (PR:H) - only existing administrators can exploit this. The impact is high across confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:L/I:H/A:H), with unchanged scope (S:U) meaning the attacker cannot impact resources beyond the vulnerable component. The exploit prerequisite of administrative access significantly reduces risk compared to unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerabilities. However, insider threats or compromised administrative credentials could weaponize this. EPSS and KEV data are not provided; the absence of KEV listing suggests no confirmed active exploitation at publication. The availability of a vendor patch further reduces operational risk for organizations maintaining patch currency. Organizations with strict privileged access controls and multi-factor authentication on administrative accounts face lower risk than those with weak credential hygiene.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An insider with administrative credentials, or an attacker who has compromised administrative credentials through phishing, logs into the BIG-IP management interface via SSH or the web console. The attacker sends a specially crafted request or command that triggers the stack buffer overflow in the privileged code path. By overwriting stack return addresses and local variables, the attacker executes arbitrary code with elevated privileges, crossing the security boundary from administrator to system-level access, potentially leading to complete system compromise or bypass of security policies enforced by BIG-IP.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – May 13, 2026

Privilege escalation in F5 BIG-IP allows authenticated administrators to cross security boundaries and achieve elevated system access through a stack buffer overflow. The vulnerability affects all BIG-IP versions and requires high-privilege administrative credentials and direct network access to exploit. No public exploit code or active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis, but a vendor patch is available.

RemediationAI

Apply the vendor-released patch available from F5 at https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000158971. Consult this advisory for exact patched version numbers corresponding to your BIG-IP deployment (version numbering varies across BIG-IP product lines: Virtual Edition, Hardware appliances, etc.). Interim mitigations pending patch deployment include: restrict administrative access via network segmentation, enforcing administrative connections only from trusted management networks via firewall rules; implement multi-factor authentication for all BIG-IP administrative accounts to reduce likelihood of credential compromise enabling exploitation; audit and review active administrative sessions regularly to detect unauthorized access; monitor system logs for unexpected administrative privilege escalation attempts. These controls do not eliminate the vulnerability but reduce the attack surface by limiting who can reach and authenticate to the admin interface.

Affected VersionsENISA

BIG-IP 17.5.0 <17.5.1.4
BIG-IP 21.0.0 <21.0.0.1
BIG-IP 16.1.0 <*
BIG-IP 17.1.0 <17.1.3.1

Affected Packages

euvd big_ip fix: 17.1.3.1, 17.5.1.4, 21.0.0.1

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow (CWE-121) in F5 BIG-IP systems. BIG-IP is a suite of application delivery and security products that operate at the network edge. The buffer overflow occurs in a privileged code path accessible only to authenticated administrators with high-level privileges (PR:H in CVSS vector). The root cause is improper bounds checking in memory operations, allowing an authenticated attacker to overwrite stack memory and hijack execution flow to escalate from administrative to system-level privileges or bypass security boundaries enforced by the application.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (f5) PRIMARY 7.1 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (f5) · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorVendor: f5

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
Low
Vulnerable system: Integrity
High
Vulnerable system: Availability
High
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Severity Changed
May 13, 2026 - 16:22 NVD
MEDIUM HIGH
CVSS changed
May 13, 2026 - 16:22 NVD
6.7 (MEDIUM) 7.1 (HIGH)
CVE Published
May 13, 2026 - 14:12 nvd
MEDIUM 6.7

DescriptionCVE.org

A vulnerability exists in BIG-IP systems that may allow an authenticated attacker with administrative access to escalate their privileges. A successful exploit may allow the attacker to cross a security boundary.

Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 82% exploitable
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

36
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +36
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

A stack-based buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a buffer located on the stack than it was allocated to hold.

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