Last Modified: Oct 05, 2026
Affected Product(s):
BIG-IP TMOS
Known Affected Versions:
17.1.2, 17.1.2.1, 17.1.2.2, 17.1.3, 17.1.3.1, 17.1.3.2, 17.1.3.4, 17.1.3.5
Opened: Nov 05, 2025 Severity: 4-Minor
The WebUI (TMUI) help text for the Client-SSL profile's Client Authentication setting is misleading. For the "Request" option, the help text states: "Specifies that the system requests a valid certificate from a client but always authenticates the client." This wording is confusing and does not accurately describe the actual behavior of the Request setting
Users may misunderstand the behavior of the "Request" Client Authentication setting, incorrectly believing that a valid certificate is required or that the client is always authenticated. In reality, the Request setting only optionally requests a certificate, does not validate it against Trusted Certificate Authorities, and the TLS connection succeeds regardless of whether a certificate is presented — this is a documentation/help-text clarity issue only, with no functional/configuration impact
This occurs when viewing the help text for the Client Authentication / Client Certificate setting on a Client-SSL profile (Create or Properties page) in the TMUI, specifically the description associated with the "Request" option
None required; refer to K14783 (https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K14783) for the correct, detailed explanation of the Request setting behavior until the help text is updated
None