CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2020-5929 — F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager security vulnerability
In versions 13.0.0-13.0.0 HF2, 12.1.0-12.1.2 HF1, and 11.6.1-11.6.2, BIG-IP platforms with Cavium Nitrox SSL hardware acceleration cards, a Virtual Server configured with a Client SSL profile, and using Anonymous (ADH) or Ephemeral (DHE) Diffie-Hellman key exchange and Single DH use option not enabled in the options list may be vulnerable to crafted SSL/TLS Handshakes that may result with a PMS (Pre-Master Secret) that starts in a 0 byte and may lead to a recovery of plaintext messages as BIG-IP TLS/SSL ADH/DHE sends different error messages acting as an oracle. Similar error messages when PMS starts with 0 byte coupled with very precise timing measurement observation may also expose this vulnerability.
- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.9 (3.1)
- Published
- 2020-09-25
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-203
Affected products
- f5 / big-ip_access_policy_manager
- f5 / big-ip_access_policy_manager / 11.6.2
- f5 / big-ip_access_policy_manager / 12.1.2
- f5 / big-ip_access_policy_manager / 13.0.0
- f5 / big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager
- f5 / big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager / 11.6.2
Matched remediation archetype
Information disclosure and sensitive data exposure
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Trace sensitive data through responses, errors, logs, metrics, traces, caches, exports, files, backups, and client bundles.
- Identify affected subjects, tenants, retention windows, access controls, and downstream copies without opening unnecessary sensitive records.
- Review metadata, timing, status, length, and existence signals as well as direct content disclosure.
Remediate safely
- Minimize collection and output, apply field-level authorization and redaction at a centralized boundary, and return generic external errors.
- Remove secrets and sensitive data from logs, artifacts, URLs, caches, and client-side bundles; rotate credentials that may have been exposed.
- Update the affected component and add synthetic-data tests for response, error, observability, and export paths.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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