CVE-2021-22986

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.8 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Exploited in the wild
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 100%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · kev ransomware · Metasploit · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(high)
EG Risk
99(Act)
EG Risk 99/100SSVC: Act

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Fix now — active exploitation, automatable, high impact.
EPSS PROB
100%
EPSS %ILE
100%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

March 31, 2021

Last Modified

October 27, 2025

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated Sep 17, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: cisa.
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-22986
generic

myF5

https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K03009991
generic

Banned | Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162066/F5-BIG-IP-16.0.x-Remote-Code-Execution.html
generic

Banned | Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162059/F5-iControl-Server-Side-Request-Forgery-Remote-Command-Execution.html

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 49× in last 7d / 216× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 775 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-19 21:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-19 18:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-19 14:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-19 10:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-19 06:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-19 03:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-18 23:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-09-18 19:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-18 19:20 UTCCISA KEV update
  10. 2026-09-18 15:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-18 14:15 UTCCISA KEV update
  12. 2026-09-18 11:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-18 08:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-18 04:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-18 00:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-17 20:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-09-17 17:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-17 12:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-17 08:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-17 05:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-17 01:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-16 21:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-16 17:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-16 14:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-16 14:10 UTCCISA KEV update
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-16 10:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-16 06:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-16 02:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-15 23:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-15 19:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-15 15:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-15 11:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-09-15 08:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-15 04:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-15 00:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-14 20:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-14 19:24 UTCCISA KEV update
  13. 2026-09-14 17:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-14 13:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-14 09:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-14 05:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-09-14 02:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-13 22:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-13 18:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-13 14:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-13 11:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-13 07:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-13 03:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-12 23:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-12 20:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-09-12 16:21 UTCEG score recompute
  27. 2026-09-12 16:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-09-12 14:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-09-12 12:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-09-12 08:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-09-12 05:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-09-12 01:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-09-11 21:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-09-11 18:49 UTCCISA KEV update
  35. 2026-09-11 17:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-09-11 14:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-09-11 10:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-09-11 06:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-09-11 02:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-09-10 23:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-09-10 19:28 UTCCISA KEV update
  42. 2026-09-10 19:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-09-10 15:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-09-10 11:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-09-10 08:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-09-10 04:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-09-10 00:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-09-09 20:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-09-09 19:08 UTCCISA KEV update
  50. 2026-09-09 17:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-09-09 13:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-09-09 09:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-09-09 05:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-09-09 01:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-09-08 22:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-09-08 18:54 UTCCISA KEV update
  57. 2026-09-08 18:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-09-08 14:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-09-08 10:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-09-08 07:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-09-08 03:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-09-07 23:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-09-07 19:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  64. 2026-09-07 16:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-07 12:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-09-07 08:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-09-07 04:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-09-07 00:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-09-06 21:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-06 17:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-09-06 13:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-09-06 09:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-09-06 06:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-09-06 02:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-09-05 22:33 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(10 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (8 GitHub PoCs) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCwest9b/F5-BIG-IP-POC
    First seen May 28, 2022

    CVE-2020-5902 CVE-2021-22986 CVE-2022-1388 POC集合

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-49738
    First seen Apr 2, 2021

    F5 BIG-IP 16.0.x - iControl REST Remote Code Execution (Unauthenticated)

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCTas9er/CVE-2021-22986
    First seen Mar 29, 2021

    Code By:Tas9er / F5 BIG-IP 远程命令执行漏洞

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCyaunsky/CVE-202122986-EXP
    First seen Mar 26, 2021

    F5 BIG-IP远程代码执行；cve-2021-22986，批量检测；命令执行利用

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCZephrFish/CVE-2021-22986_Check
    First seen Mar 23, 2021

    CVE-2021-22986 Checker Script in Python3

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCAl1ex/CVE-2021-22986
    First seen Mar 22, 2021

    CVE-2021-22986 & F5 BIG-IP RCE

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCsafesword/F5_RCE
    First seen Mar 21, 2021

    CVE-2021-22986 F5 BIG-IP iControl 命令执行漏洞

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCS1xHcL/f5_rce_poc
    First seen Mar 19, 2021

    cve-2021-22986 f5 rce 漏洞批量检测 poc

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCdorkerdevil/CVE-2021-22986-Poc
    First seen Mar 17, 2021

    This is a Poc for BIGIP iControl unauth RCE

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/linux/http/f5_icontrol_rest_ssrf_rce✓ verified
    First seen Mar 10, 2021

    F5 iControl REST Unauthenticated SSRF Token Generation RCE

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2021-22986?
CVE-2021-22986 is a critical vulnerability published on March 31, 2021. 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:…
When was CVE-2021-22986 disclosed?
CVE-2021-22986 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on March 31, 2021, with the most recent update on October 27, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2021-22986 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2021-22986 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22986?
CVE-2021-22986 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2021-22986?
CVE-2021-22986 affects F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Centralized Management. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2021-22986?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2021-22986, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2021-22986

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