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

- Exploited (CISA KEV): yes, added 2021-11-03, known ransomware use
- Published: 2021-03-31
- CVSS: 9.8 CRITICAL (v3.1)
- EPSS: 99.9% (100th percentile)
- CWE: CWE-863

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.

## Edge WAF coverage (claimed by vendors, not measured)

| Vendor | Status | First rule | Days after publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Before feed history | — | — |
| AWS | No public claim | — | — |
| Microsoft Azure | No public claim | — | — |
| Google Cloud | Before feed history | — | — |
| Fastly | Before feed history | — | — |
| F5 | Before feed history | — | — |
| Akamai | No public source | — | — |
| OWASP CRS | Before feed history | — | — |

## Our test (measured)

- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 1, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: partial (1 of 2 requests blocked), template CVE-2021-22986, 2026-11-02
- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 2, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: partial (1 of 2 requests blocked), template CVE-2021-22986, 2026-11-02

"No public claim" means no vendor statement names this CVE; "Before feed history" means the CVE is older than the vendor feed. In both cases generic rules may still block it.

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