Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-22418 is an open redirect issue in F5 BIG-IP APM virtual servers. An unauthenticated attacker could craft a link that appears to involve a trusted BIG-IP access point but redirects a user elsewhere. The main business risk is phishing and trust abuse, not direct system takeover.
Executive priority
Treat this as a medium-priority remediation item, with higher urgency for internet-facing APM access portals. It is not evidenced as actively exploited here, but trusted-domain redirects can materially increase phishing effectiveness and brand abuse risk.
Technical view
Affected BIG-IP 17.0.x, 16.1.x, 15.1.x, 14.1.x, and all 13.1.x releases can expose CWE-601 open redirect behavior when a virtual server has an APM access policy enabled. CVSS is 6.1 with network access, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, changed scope, and low confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where BIG-IP APM access portals or related virtual servers are reachable by users, especially from the internet, and run affected versions before the fixed releases. BIG-IP deployments without APM access policies on virtual servers are not described as affected in the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires user interaction: a target must follow a crafted redirect URI. The practical risk is abuse of a trusted access domain to support phishing, credential theft attempts, or user redirection.
Researcher notes
Do not broaden scope beyond BIG-IP APM virtual servers with access policies based on the provided evidence. End-of-Technical-Support versions were not evaluated by F5. The record identifies fixed versions but does not provide exploit details or independent exploitation evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade 17.0.x systems to 17.0.0.2 or later.
- Upgrade 16.1.x systems to 16.1.3.3 or later.
- Upgrade 15.1.x systems to 15.1.7 or later.
- Upgrade 14.1.x systems to 14.1.5.3 or later.
- For 13.1.x, follow F5 guidance and move to a supported fixed branch.
- Review F5 advisory K95503300 for branch-specific remediation guidance.
Validation and detection
- Inventory BIG-IP versions across all APM deployments.
- Identify virtual servers with BIG-IP APM access policies enabled.
- Confirm whether exposed systems are below the fixed versions listed by F5.
- Prioritize internet-facing APM virtual servers for remediation validation.
- Check F5 advisory K95503300 for any deployment-specific notes.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-601: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-22418 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N2.82.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K95503300CVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')
URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.