# CVE-2021-22986: F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution

> Unauthenticated remote attackers can execute arbitrary commands on F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ devices via the iControl REST interface.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 3 Nov 2021 (CISA KEV), used in ransomware
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 31 Mar 2021
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8489-vwcj-fxfr

## What is CVE-2021-22986?

CVE-2021-22986 is a critical command injection vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager, published on 31 Mar 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

On BIG-IP versions 16.0.x before 16.0.1.1, 15.1.x before 15.1.2.1, 14.1.x before 14.1.4, 13.1.x before 13.1.3.6, and 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3 amd BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3 and 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2, the iControl REST interface has an unauthenticated remote command execution vulnerability. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Software Development (EoSD) are not evaluated.

Weakness: CWE-918 (Server-Side Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-22986?

It affects 15 products.


Products: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager, F5 Big-Ip Advanced Firewall Manager, F5 Big-Ip Advanced Web Application Firewall, F5 Big-Ip Analytics, F5 Big-Ip Application Acceleration Manager, F5 Big-Ip Application Security Manager, F5 Big-Ip Ddos Hybrid Defender, F5 Big-Ip Domain Name System, F5 Big-Ip Fraud Protection Service, F5 Big-Ip Global Traffic Manager, F5 Big-Ip Link Controller, F5 Big-Ip Local Traffic Manager, F5 Big-Ip Policy Enforcement Manager, F5 Big-Iq Centralized Management, F5 Ssl Orchestrator.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-22986?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-22986 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 17 Nov 2021.

## Is CVE-2021-22986 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2021-22986 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021, including in ransomware campaigns.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2021-22986 & F5 BIG-IP RCE (github_poc): https://github.com/Al1ex/CVE-2021-22986
- This is a Poc for BIGIP iControl unauth RCE  (github_poc): https://github.com/dorkerdevil/CVE-2021-22986-Poc
- cve-2021-22986 f5 rce 漏洞批量检测 poc (github_poc): https://github.com/S1xHcL/f5_rce_poc
- Code By:Tas9er / F5 BIG-IP 远程命令执行漏洞 (github_poc): https://github.com/Tas9er/CVE-2021-22986
- CVE-2020-5902 CVE-2021-22986 CVE-2022-1388 POC集合 (github_poc): https://github.com/west9b/F5-BIG-IP-POC
- F5 BIG-IP远程代码执行；cve-2021-22986，批量检测；命令执行利用 (github_poc): https://github.com/yaunsky/CVE-202122986-EXP

## Other vulnerabilities in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager

- [CVE-2023-46747](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46747/): F5 BIG-IP Configuration Utility Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-1388](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1388/): F5 BIG-IP Missing Authentication (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-22991](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22991/): F5 BIG-IP Traffic Management Microkernel Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-5902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5902/): F5 BIG-IP Traffic Management User Interface (TMUI) Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-94127](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-94127/): F5 BIG-IP APM Heap-based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-22986 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-22986 is a critical command injection vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager, published on 31 Mar 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2021-22986 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021, including in ransomware campaigns.

Affected product: F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22986/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22986/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22986
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22986
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-22986

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22986/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.