What is CVE-2021-22986?

CVE-2021-22986 is a critical-severity vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager, classified under Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF). CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2021-03-31.

How severe is CVE-2021-22986?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-22986 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-22986 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 126 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

SSRF in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager

CVE-2021-22986

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.

Vulnerability class: SSRF (Server-Side Request Forgery)

Published 2021-03-31 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.999 (100.0th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Very high probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — among the top 0.1% most-likely-to-be-exploited CVEs. 100th percentile — 100.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.999 · newest: 0.999 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

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

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2021-11-03. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2021-11-17.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Known ransomware campaign use: yes.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

support.f5.com/csp/article/K03009991 (Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/162059/F5-iControl-Server-Side-Request-Forgery-Re… (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/162066/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-22986?: CVE-2021-22986 is a critical-severity vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager, classified under Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF). CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2021-03-31.
How severe is CVE-2021-22986?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-22986 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2021-22986 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 126 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.