What is CVE-2021-22986?

CVE-2021-22986 is F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. The supplied enrichment data classifies it as SSRF mapped to CWE-918 Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF).

Which versions are affected?

Affected product and version evidence is listed in the product table above. Current public advisories should be checked for exact version scope before patch targeting is finalized.

Is there active exploitation?

Yes: CISA KEV signal present. If exploitation is not confirmed from current sources, teams should document that status and continue monitoring KEV, vendor, and telemetry updates.

Yes. The supplied enrichment data lists CVE-2021-22986 in CISA KEV with required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.. KEV status should be monitored because it can change after initial disclosure or after exploitation becomes publicly confirmed.

Is there a public exploit?

134 public PoC repositories reported; 2 marked weaponized in current dataset. Public exploit or PoC availability should raise triage priority, especially for exposed or business-critical systems.

How can defenders detect it?

Start with web/proxy/WAF logs, application logs, network IDS/IPS, cloud metadata access logs, egress proxy logs where available. Look for vulnerability-class behavior, product errors, suspicious authentication events, exploit probes, and abnormal process activity based only on evidence that applies to the affected product.

How should teams prioritize it?

Prioritize CVE-2021-22986 using CVSS 9.8, EPSS 100%, KEV status, public PoC status, and asset exposure. Internet-facing, privileged, or business-critical deployments should be handled first.

Are workarounds available?

The supplied mitigation guidance says to apply vendor patches and restrict external exposure until fixed. Fixed-version evidence is listed in the mitigation section above.

Which threat actors are linked publicly?

Publicly linked actor or ransomware signals in the supplied enrichment data: TA505 (), APT32 (), TeamTNT (), Kinsing (), Cron (), Ransomware use: Known. Do not attribute exploitation to a threat actor unless the source evidence explicitly supports that linkage.

What should be done in the next 24 hours?

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations. Treat as emergency remediation because CISA KEV status is present. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class. Open remediation tickets with affected assets, owners, evidence status, and detection coverage so decisions are traceable.

CISA KEVRansomwarecriticalSSRFpublic exploit

CVE-2021-22986

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

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.

Published Mar 31, 2021Updated Jun 17, 2026Sources: NVD, F5 (CNA), CISA, FIRST EPSS, GitHub, Exploit-DB, SOCRadar CTI

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.

Exploitation

Confirmed

CISA KEV, listed Nov 3, 2021

EPSS

100%

top of FIRST's scoreset

Affects

2 products listed

CVSS base

9.8

critical · 2 sources

CISA SSVC assessment

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

CISA

Exploitation

Active

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

Yes

can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Total

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

The vendor's own words where we have them.

Upgrade BIG-IP; BIG-IQ to a fixed release. Apply vendor patches per advisory and restrict external exposure of the affected component until patched.

CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Federal deadline Nov 17, 2021 — passed 1,782 days ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record's own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found.

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations.
Treat as emergency remediation because CISA KEV status is present.
Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and version as the advisories word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status
F5	BIG-IP; BIG-IQ	BIG-IP 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, 12.1.x before 12.1.5.3	Vulnerable
F5	BIG-IP; BIG-IQ	BIG-IQ 7.1.0.x before 7.1.0.3, 7.0.0.x before 7.0.0.2	Vulnerable

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Availability

High

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Scope

Unchanged

Attack Complexity

Low

Attack Vector

Network

Privileges Req

None

User Interaction

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Source
9.8	CVSS 3.1	critical	3.9	5.9	NVD, CNA
10	CVSS 2.0	high	10	10	NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What this weakness leads to

MITRE's own consequences and mitigations for the weakness class — the authority's wording, not guidance derived from the CVSS vector.

MITRE

CWE-918 · Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

Read Application Data
Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands::

Weakness & attack patterns

CWE-918Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

Inferred from the weakness class — not observed against this CVE.

CAPEC-664 · Server Side Request Forgery

CISA KEV details

CISA lists a CVE here once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

CISAThat month →

Listed

Nov 3, 2021

Federal deadline

Nov 17, 2021

passed 1,782 days ago

Ransomware use

Known

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a date to argue against.

Public exploit

Capability, not use: code existing is a different claim from anyone running it.

Repositories

2 of the 5 sampled are weaponized

Exploit entries

Exploit-DB and CTI exploit indexes

Malware

Families a CTI source ties to this CVE. One named, with the total it tracks.

Families tracked

Named

Cobalt Strike

Social mentions

Posts naming this CVE. Attention, not evidence of exploitation — it spikes on disclosure and decays whether or not anything is exploited.

Detection rules

Sigma and YARA rules a source published for this CVE — the only detection content any connected source supplies.

YARALOG_F5_BIGIP_Exploitation_Artefacts_CVE_2021_22986_Mar21_1

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.

Prioritize edge telemetry for network-reachable BIG-IP; BIG-IQ.
Monitor for scanner or exploit-pattern traffic after 134 public PoC repositories were reported.

web/proxy/WAF logsapplication logsnetwork IDS/IPScloud metadata access logsegress proxy logs

Groups associated with this CVE

Groups reported in connection with this vulnerability. A reported association, not a confirmed observation of that group using it — and not scoped to any sector or campaign.

TA505APT32TeamTNTKinsingCron

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first — with the readings a source repeats on a schedule counted underneath rather than listed.

2026
Added · CVSS 3.1 9.8 (AV:N)
Jun 17, 2026 · NVD
2025
Bulletin released on Mitre.
Jan 30, 2025 · SOCRadar CTI
Bulletin released on NIST.
Jan 30, 2025 · SOCRadar CTI
2024
CVE is exploited. "lions2012/Penetration_Testing_POC"
Feb 8, 2024 · SOCRadar CTI
CVE is exploited. "k0mi-tg/CVE-POC"
Feb 1, 2024 · SOCRadar CTI
2023
CVE is exploited. "huydung26/CVE-2021-22986"
Dec 28, 2023 · SOCRadar CTI
CVE is exploited. "Ostorlab/KEV"
Dec 26, 2023 · SOCRadar CTI
CVE is exploited. "xinyisleep/pocscan"
Dec 4, 2023 · SOCRadar CTI
CVE is exploited. "xuetusummer/Penetration_Testing_POC"
Dec 4, 2023 · SOCRadar CTI
2021
Added to CISA KEV catalog
Nov 3, 2021 · CISA
Added · webapps entry: F5 BIG-IP 16.0.x - iControl REST Remote Code Execution (Unauthenticated)
Apr 2, 2021 · Exploit-DB
Initial · CVE published
Mar 31, 2021 · NVD

Source activity

Readings a source repeats on a schedule, counted rather than listed.

7×SVRS was changedApr 3, 2025 – May 13, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI
6×Tweets · 1 time tweeted.Apr 1, 2025 – May 1, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI
5×Github ReposDec 4, 2023 – Apr 10, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI
2×ModifiedJan 29, 2025 · SOCRadar CTI

References

6 on the record

packetstormsecurity.com/files/162059/F5-iControl-Server-Side-Request-Forgery-Remote-Command-Execution.html
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, GITHUB, NIST
packetstormsecurity.com/files/162066/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, NIST, GITHUB
support.f5.com/csp/article/K03009991
Vendor Advisory, NIST, MITRE_REFERENCES
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-22986
US Government Resource
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/49738
Vendor Advisory
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22986
Vendor Advisory

Coverage

4 stories from the feeds we poll

Elsewhere on this site

F5every CVE for this vendor
November 2021what else CISA listed
SSRFsame class
CWE-918other pages naming this weakness

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record1

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2021-22986 is F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management iControl REST Remote Code Execution Vulnerability, a critical vulnerability affecting BIG-IP; BIG-IQ from F5. The current evidence lists it in CISA KEV, and the exploit status is: Yes: CISA KEV signal present. Public exploit evidence is: 134 public PoC repositories reported; 2 marked weaponized in current dataset. The affected-version evidence is listed in the key facts and affected products tables. Defenders should first verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run those versions, then apply vendor patches or mitigations, restrict reachable attack surface, and preserve logs for detection review. CVSS 9.8 describes technical severity, while EPSS 100% helps estimate near-term exploit likelihood; neither replaces asset context. Unknown fields should remain explicit in tickets, and threat actor, IOC, victimology, or payload claims should not be added unless a cited source supports them. Monitor CISA KEV, vendor advisories, NVD changes, public PoC repositories, and internal telemetry for update triggers.