{"id":"CVE-2022-1388","published":"2022-05-05T17:15:10Z","modified":"2026-06-17T04:22:20Z","title":"F5 BIG-IP Missing Authentication Vulnerability","vendor":"F5","product":"BIG-IP","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"On F5 BIG-IP 16.1.x versions prior to 16.1.2.2, 15.1.x versions prior to 15.1.5.1, 14.1.x versions prior to 14.1.4.6, 13.1.x versions prior to 13.1.5, and all 12.1.x and 11.6.x versions, undisclosed requests may bypass iControl REST authentication. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":{"text":"The flaw is a missing authentication issue in the iControl REST component of F5 BIG-IP, where certain undisclosed requests can bypass authentication. An unauthenticated attacker with network access to the BIG-IP management interface can exploit it without credentials or user interaction, with the vulnerable condition applying to the listed prior versions of the 16.1.x, 15.1.x, 14.1.x, and 13.1.x branches and all 12.1.x and 11.6.x releases.","provenance":"ai","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","generatedAt":"2026-10-29T07:53:34Z"},"cvss":{"score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"epss":{"score":0.99954,"percentile":0.99974,"date":"2026-10-30","provenance":"source"},"kev":{"dateAdded":"2022-05-10","dueDate":"2022-05-31","ransomware":true,"requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","notes":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1388","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2021-09-23","exploitedFirstSeen":"2022-05-10","ransomware":true,"evidence":[{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","date":"2022-05-10"},{"url":"https://www.lacework.com/blog/malware-targeting-latest-f5-vulnerability/","date":"2022-05-12"},{"url":"https://cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2022/05/18/threat-actors-exploiting-f5-big-ip-cve-2022-1388","date":"2022-05-18"},{"url":"https://blogs.jpcert.or.jp/en/2022/09/bigip-exploit.html","date":"2022-09-15"},{"url":"https://www.welivesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/eset_threat_report_t22022.pdf","date":"2022-10-05"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-279a","date":"2022-10-06"},{"url":"https://cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa22-138a","date":"2022-10-12"},{"url":"https://www.fortinet.com/blog/threat-research/zerobot-new-go-based-botnet-campaign-targets-multiple-vulnerabilities","date":"2022-12-06"},{"url":"https://blog.netlab.360.com/new-ddos-botnet-wszeor/","date":"2022-12-07"},{"url":"https://t.me/hacking_Attack/79492","date":"2022-12-08"}],"evidenceTotal":925,"provenance":"source"},"exploited":true,"otx":{"pulseCount":50,"pulses":[{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae20c1db17e7057ae7d9ad1","created":"2026-10-28"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae0ba7e0e2a97ff7b218819","created":"2026-10-27"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adf68b85c3e852f3c111d18","created":"2026-10-26"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adb740e397c3ad4799aa4cd","created":"2026-10-23"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ada236fcfba2dfa730ea482","created":"2026-10-22"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad8d33a077cbb5cab524d80","created":"2026-10-21"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 21, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad78130c4d1ac2be83a8b6d","created":"2026-10-20"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 20, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad62f63c24a405a3423cc13","created":"2026-10-19"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 19, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad4dda174e5797d0bd238b7","created":"2026-10-18"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 18, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad38c22e1848f8189d1c121","created":"2026-10-17"}],"provenance":"machine"},"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-306","name":"Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality"}],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167007/F5-BIG-IP-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167118/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167150/F5-BIG-IP-iControl-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K23605346","tags":["Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.secpod.com/blog/critical-f5-big-ip-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-patch-now/","tags":["Exploit","Mitigation","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167007/F5-BIG-IP-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167118/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167150/F5-BIG-IP-iControl-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K23605346","tags":["Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.secpod.com/blog/critical-f5-big-ip-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-patch-now/","tags":["Exploit","Mitigation","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-1388","tags":["US Government Resource"]}],"techniques":[{"id":"T1548","name":"Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism","tactics":["privilege-escalation"],"provenance":"source","basis":"ctid-kev","bases":["ctid-kev"],"basisDetail":"CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Missing Authentication","mappingType":"exploitation_technique","evidence":[],"comment":"This CVE is an authentication bypass vulnerability. Unauthenticated users with network access can execute arbitrary commands.","confidence":"high"}],"reports":[],"affected":[],"advisories":[],"euvd":{"id":"EUVD-2022-24705","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2022-24705","exploited":true,"exploitedSince":"2022-05-10","provenance":"source"},"exploits":[{"id":50932,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50932","title":"F5 BIG-IP 16.0.x - Remote Code Execution (RCE)","type":"remote","platform":"multiple","date":"2022-05-12","verified":false,"provenance":"source"}],"exploitSources":{"exploitdb":{"count":1,"earliest":"2022-05-12"},"pocGithub":{"count":62,"skipped":3,"earliest":"2022-05-05","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/numanturle/CVE-2022-1388","repos":[{"name":"horizon3ai/CVE-2022-1388","url":"https://github.com/horizon3ai/CVE-2022-1388","stars":230,"created":"2022-05-09"},{"name":"doocop/CVE-2022-1388-EXP","url":"https://github.com/doocop/CVE-2022-1388-EXP","stars":92,"created":"2022-05-07"},{"name":"alt3kx/CVE-2022-1388_PoC","url":"https://github.com/alt3kx/CVE-2022-1388_PoC","stars":87,"created":"2022-05-09"},{"name":"0xf4n9x/CVE-2022-1388","url":"https://github.com/0xf4n9x/CVE-2022-1388","stars":84,"created":"2022-05-09"},{"name":"ZephrFish/F5-CVE-2022-1388-Exploit","url":"https://github.com/ZephrFish/F5-CVE-2022-1388-Exploit","stars":59,"created":"2022-05-09"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"F5 BIG-IP iControl RCE via REST Authentication Bypass","module":"exploit/linux/http/f5_icontrol_rce","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2022-05-04","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/f5_icontrol_rce.rb"}],"nuclei":[{"id":"CVE-2022-1388","name":"F5 BIG-IP iControl - REST Auth Bypass RCE","severity":"critical","path":"http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-1388.yaml","url":"https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-1388.yaml"}],"first":{"date":"2022-05-04","source":"Metasploit","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/f5_icontrol_rce.rb"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167007/F5-BIG-IP-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167118/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167150/F5-BIG-IP-iControl-Remote-Code-Execution.html","https://www.secpod.com/blog/critical-f5-big-ip-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-patch-now/"],"flow":[{"stage":"exploitation","techniques":["T1548"],"provenance":"source"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2022-05-04","kind":"exploit-public","label":"First public exploit: Metasploit; later: PoC-in-GitHub 2022-05-05, Exploit-DB 2022-05-12","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/f5_icontrol_rce.rb","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2022-05-05","kind":"published","label":"Published (NVD)","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1388","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2022-05-10","kind":"exploited-reported","label":"Exploitation first reported (VulnCheck KEV evidence)","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2022-05-10","kind":"kev","label":"Added to CISA KEV (known ransomware use)","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2022-05-10","kind":"euvd-exploited","label":"ENISA EUVD: exploited","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2022-24705","provenance":"source"}],"speed":{"daysToPublicExploit":null,"firstExploitFrom":"Metasploit","daysToKev":5},"priority":{"score":79.9,"factors":[{"name":"In a KEV catalog","points":35.0,"detail":"listed in CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV"},{"name":"Recent KEV listing","points":0.0,"detail":"added 1864 days ago"},{"name":"Known ransomware use","points":10.0,"detail":"CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV: Known"},{"name":"EPSS percentile","points":19.99,"detail":"percentile 0.9997"},{"name":"Named in threat reports","points":0.0,"detail":"0 reports"},{"name":"Public exploit code","points":5.0,"detail":"4 NVD references tagged Exploit; 1 Exploit-DB entry; 62 PoC-in-GitHub repos; 1 Metasploit module; 1 nuclei template"},{"name":"Mentioned in OTX pulses","points":3.0,"detail":"50 pulses"},{"name":"CVSS severity","points":6.86,"detail":"base score 9.8"},{"name":"End-of-life product","points":0.0,"detail":"supported or unknown"}]}}