CVE-2020-5860Network attack vector

Remote access to HA traffic via weak authentication

Published Mar 27, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Improper authentication and cleartext transmission in F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ allow remote attackers to access HA failover traffic. In Device Service Cluster high-availability network failover, the failover service accepts connections without a strong authentication method and sends failover data without Transport Layer Security. The issue applies to the affected BIG-IP and BIG-IQ release ranges listed by F5; exploitation requires network reachability to the HA failover channel and can expose or alter failover communications.

CVSS severity8.1
High
EPSS probability0.85%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper authentication and cleartext transmission in F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ allow remote attackers to access HA failover traffic. In Device Service Cluster high-availability network failover, the failover service accepts connections without a strong authentication method and sends failover data without Transport Layer Security. The issue applies to the affected BIG-IP and BIG-IQ release ranges listed by F5; exploitation requires network reachability to the HA failover channel and can expose or alter failover communications.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5860
Published
Mar 27, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-319, CWE-287, T1040
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 27, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

8.1NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.8NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-319Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
CWE-287Improper Authentication
T1040Network Sniffing

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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