Detection: F5 BIG-IP iControl REST Vulnerability CVE-2022-1388

Updated Date: 2025-05-02 ID: bb1c2c30-107a-4e56-a4b9-1f7022867bfe Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects attempts to exploit the F5 BIG-IP iControl REST API vulnerability (CVE-2022-1388) for unauthenticated remote code execution. It identifies suspicious URI paths and POST HTTP methods, along with specific request headers containing potential commands in the utilcmdargs field and a random base64 encoded value in the X-F5-Auth-Token field. This activity is significant as it targets a critical vulnerability that can allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to full system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Search

1
2| tstats count from datamodel=Web where Web.url="*/mgmt/tm/util/bash*" Web.http_method="POST" by Web.http_user_agent Web.http_method, Web.url,Web.url_length Web.src, Web.dest 
3| `drop_dm_object_name("Web")` 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `f5_big_ip_icontrol_rest_vulnerability_cve_2022_1388_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Palo Alto Network Threat	Network	`'pan:threat'`	`'pan:threat'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
f5_big_ip_icontrol_rest_vulnerability_cve_2022_1388_filter	`search *`

f5_big_ip_icontrol_rest_vulnerability_cve_2022_1388_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1190	Exploit Public-Facing Application	Initial Access
T1133	External Remote Services	Initial Access

Delivery

Installation

DE.CM

CIS 13

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Notable	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting web or proxy logs, or ensure it is being filled by a proxy like device, into the Web Datamodel. For additional filtering, allow list private IP space or restrict by known good.

Known False Positives

False positives may be present if the activity is blocked or was not successful. Filter known vulnerablity scanners. Filter as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

An attempt to exploit CVE-2022-1388 against an F5 appliance $dest$ has occurred.

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
dest	system	70	No Threat Objects

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`pan:threat`	`pan:threat`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`pan:threat`	`pan:threat`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 5