CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-45226 — F5 Big-Ip Next Service Proxy For Kubernetes security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.4

The BIG-IP SPK TMM (Traffic Management Module) f5-debug-sidecar and f5-debug-sshd containers contains hardcoded credentials that may allow an attacker with the ability to intercept traffic to impersonate the SPK Secure Shell (SSH) server on those containers. This is only exposed when ssh debug is enabled. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated

Severity
High
CVSS
7.4 (3.1)
Published
2023-10-10
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-798

Affected products

  • f5 / big-ip_next_service_proxy_for_kubernetes / 1.5.0

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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