CVE-2025-43878

Restriction bypass via tcpdump argument injection

Published May 7, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026

Improper input validation in F5OS-A and F5OS-C before 1.8.0 allows local users to bypass Appliance mode restrictions. The system diagnostics tcpdump utility accepts syntactically invalid quoting in command input without neutralizing it, escaping the mode's CLI constraints. Exploitation requires an Administrator or Resource Administrator account while nondefault Appliance mode is enabled and grants access to root or Bash functionality that the mode is intended to block.

CVSS severity8.3
High
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Improper input validation in F5OS-A and F5OS-C before 1.8.0 allows local users to bypass Appliance mode restrictions. The system diagnostics tcpdump utility accepts syntactically invalid quoting in command input without neutralizing it, escaping the mode's CLI constraints. Exploitation requires an Administrator or Resource Administrator account while nondefault Appliance mode is enabled and grants access to root or Bash functionality that the mode is intended to block.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-43878
Published
May 7, 2025
Updated
Feb 26, 2026
Vendor
F5 Networks
Product
F5OS-A
Classifications
CWE-149, CWE-1286, T1059.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 7, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=1.5.1 <1.8.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

F5 Networks · F5OS-Aversion=1.5.1 <1.8.0
F5 Networks · F5OS-Cversion=1.6.0 <1.8.0

Published CVSS scores

6.0F5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
8.3F5CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-149Improper Neutralization of Quoting Syntax
CWE-1286Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input
T1059.004Unix Shell

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo