Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2020-5902

BIG-IP Remote Code Execution

F5 / BIG-IP · 15.0.0-15.1.0.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.5, 13.1.0-13.1.3.3, 12.1.0-12.1.5.1, 11.6.1-11.6.5.1

Watch CVE-2020-5902 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
100.0%
First observed
12 Jun 2026
Last observed
21 Oct 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2020-5902 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting F5 BIG-IP. In BIG-IP versions 15.0.0-15.1.0.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.5, 13.1.0-13.1.3.3, 12.1.0-12.1.5.1, and 11.6.1-11.6.5.1, the Traffic Management User Interface...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts with confirmed confidence. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

F5 / BIG-IP 15.0.0-15.1.0.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.5, 13.1.0-13.1.3.3, 12.1.0-12.1.5.1, 11.6.1-11.6.5.1.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

Overview

BIG-IP Remote Code Execution

In BIG-IP versions 15.0.0-15.1.0.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.5, 13.1.0-13.1.3.3, 12.1.0-12.1.5.1, and 11.6.1-11.6.5.1, the Traffic Management User Interface (TMUI), also referred to as the Configuration utility, has a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in undisclosed pages.

n/a Affected
BIG-IP
15.0.0-15.1.0.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.5, 13.1.0-13.1.3.3, 12.1.0-12.1.5.1, 11.6.1-11.6.5.1
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
01 Jul 2020
Exploitation Reported
23 Apr 2025
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa malware nuclei_scanner edge metasploit ransomware

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

The Shadowserver

Recorded 23 Apr 2025

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Active exploitation observed

Previdian sensor

First observed 12 Jun 2026

Previdian first observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability in our honeypot sensors.

Used in malware

The Shadowserver

Recorded 03 Nov 2021

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 04 Jul 2020

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-05-31 00:00 UTC
Previdian Sensors 2026-06-26 16:43 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Previdian sensors recorded exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability. The cards and chart show volume, unique attackers, and daily activity.

199

Attempts observed

47

Unique attacker IPs

9

Attacker countries

BG · CH · FI · FR · JP · NL · PT · US · YE

39

Sensors observed

CVE-2020-5902 exploitation attempts over the last 91 days

Daily events observed by Previdian sensors

Updated 23 Oct 2026

0
3
0
3
3
3
4
3
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12
9
0
0
0
3
9
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
2
4
0
0
0
0
3
0
1
3
0
0
3
0
0
0
3
0
3
3
3
4
1
3
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
72
3
1
6
0
0
25 Jul 13 Aug 1 Sep 20 Sep 23 Oct

First observed 12 Jun 2026 · Last observed 21 Oct 2026

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Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
8
39
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

Previdian virtual patch guidance is available for this CVE.

AWS WAF Cloudflare ModSecurity

Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

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Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/f5_bigip_tmui_rce_cve_2020_5902.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-5902.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Virtual Patch Detail

Compensating WAF rules for this CVE.

Available

Enterprise feature. Virtual patch rule content and deployable vendor exports (ModSecurity, Cloudflare, AWS WAF) are available to Previdian Enterprise users.

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Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

100.0%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') CWE-22

Recent mention · SOCRadar

Discernment Deleted: Inside the Operation Server of BlackHatSect0r && DXQRTXX

Discernment Deleted: Inside the Operation Server of BlackHatSect0r && DXQRTXX A French-speaking crew deleted the line reading "discernment retained" from its AI agent's memory, wrote "I am a weapon" in its place, and poi

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 10.0 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

F5 BIG-IP TMUI - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

f5_bigip_tmui_rce_cve_2020_5902

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2020-5902

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 11:04 UTC

    Virtual patch available

    Compensating WAF rule available to block exploitation

  2. 00:32 UTC

    Indicators of compromise added (71)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  3. 00:32 UTC

    Observed by Previdian sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  4. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  5. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  6. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  7. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  8. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  9. 00:00 UTC

    First public exploitation report

    Exploit observed in malware

  10. 00:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  11. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2020-5902

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2020-5902",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99999,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 199, "sensors": 39 }
}