CVE-2020-5916

In BIG-IP versions 15.1.0-15.1.0.4 and 15.0.0-15.0.1.3 the Certificate Administrator user role and higher privileged roles can perform arbitrary file reads outside of the web root directory.

Published: 2020-08-26 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-5916 is rated Moderate Risk (41.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.53%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-5916

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.10% 0.53% +0.43%
2 2025-03-30 0.19% 0.10% -0.09%
3 2025-03-29 0.19%

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-5916

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.3 4.0 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-5916

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-5916

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
f5 big-ip_access_policy_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_access_policy_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_access_policy_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_access_policy_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_advanced_firewall_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_analytics >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_analytics:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_analytics >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_analytics:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_application_acceleration_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_application_acceleration_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_application_acceleration_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_application_acceleration_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_application_security_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_application_security_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_application_security_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_application_security_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_ddos_hybrid_defender >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_ddos_hybrid_defender:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_ddos_hybrid_defender >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_ddos_hybrid_defender:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_domain_name_system >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_domain_name_system:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_domain_name_system >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_domain_name_system:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_fraud_protection_service >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_fraud_protection_service:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_fraud_protection_service >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_fraud_protection_service:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_global_traffic_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_global_traffic_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_global_traffic_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_global_traffic_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_link_controller >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_link_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_link_controller >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_link_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_local_traffic_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_local_traffic_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_local_traffic_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_local_traffic_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_policy_enforcement_manager >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_policy_enforcement_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 big-ip_policy_enforcement_manager >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:big-ip_policy_enforcement_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 ssl_orchestrator >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:f5:ssl_orchestrator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
f5 ssl_orchestrator >= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:f5:ssl_orchestrator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-5916

cvelogic Threat Intelligence