CISA orders government to patch F5 products after ‘nation-state’ cyber intrusion

“This cyber threat actor presents an imminent threat to federal networks using F5 devices and software,” CISA’s directive says. China-linked hackers previously exploited F5 vulnerabilities.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ordered federal civilian agencies on Wednesday to catalog and patch a suite of products offered by application security and cloud management company F5.

CISA said a “nation-state affiliated cyber threat actor” compromised F5 systems, including source code tied to the company’s BIG-IP traffic management product that helps organizations filter out malicious web traffic should it enter their networks, according to the directive.

Seattle-based F5 provides application delivery and security technologies used by hundreds of private companies and government agencies worldwide. An SEC filing released Wednesday said F5 detected the intrusion on Aug. 9 and engaged external cybersecurity experts to contain the breach. The Justice Department approved F5’s request to delay disclosure under a national security exemption ...