CVE-2018-5535 : What You Need to Know

A Denial of Service vulnerability affecting F5 Networks, Inc.'s BIG-IP products has been identified and can be triggered by exploiting specially crafted HTTP responses.

Understanding CVE-2018-5535

This CVE involves a vulnerability that can lead to a Denial of Service condition on specific versions of F5 BIG-IP products.

What is CVE-2018-5535?

The vulnerability allows attackers to cause a restart of the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) by sending malicious HTTP responses to a Virtual Server with a Quality of Experience (QoE) profile that has Video enabled.

The Impact of CVE-2018-5535

Exploiting this vulnerability can result in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition, leading to the TMM restarting and buffering of response data.

Technical Details of CVE-2018-5535

This section provides more technical insights into the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability in F5 BIG-IP versions 14.0.0, 13.0.0-13.1.0, 12.1.0-12.1.3, and 11.5.1-11.6.3 allows for a DoS attack through specially crafted HTTP responses.

Affected Systems and Versions

Products: BIG-IP (LTM, AAM, AFM, Analytics, APM, ASM, DNS, Edge Gateway, FPS, GTM, Link Controller, PEM, WebAccelerator)
Versions: 14.0.0, 13.0.0-13.1.0, 12.1.0-12.1.3, 11.5.1-11.6.3

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability is exploited by sending crafted HTTP responses to a Virtual Server with a QoE profile that has Video enabled, causing the TMM to restart and buffer response data.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protecting systems from CVE-2018-5535 requires immediate actions and long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply vendor-supplied patches or updates to mitigate the vulnerability.
Monitor network traffic for any signs of exploitation.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update and patch software to address known vulnerabilities.
Implement network segmentation and access controls to limit the attack surface.

Patching and Updates

F5 Networks, Inc. may release patches or updates to address CVE-2018-5535. Stay informed about these releases and apply them promptly.