Bug ID 2229273: LDAP authentication fails when multiple LDAP servers are configured

Last Modified: Sep 18, 2026

Affected Product(s):
BIG-IP TMOS(all modules)

Known Affected Versions:
17.1.0, 17.1.0.1, 17.1.0.2, 17.1.0.3, 17.1.1, 17.1.1.1, 17.1.1.2, 17.1.1.3, 17.1.1.4, 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, 17.5.0, 17.5.1, 17.5.1.2, 17.5.1.3, 17.5.1.4, 17.5.1.5, 17.5.1.6, 17.5.1.8, 17.5.1.9, 21.0.0, 21.0.0.1, 21.0.0.2, 21.0.0.3

Fixed In:
21.1.0

Opened: Feb 26, 2026

Severity: 2-Critical

Symptoms

When 2 or more ldap servers are configured for ldap authentication, auth fails due to timer expired (PAM timeout).

Impact

LDAP authentication fails due to PAM timeout- even when one of the servers responds with success.

Conditions

-- Multiple ldap servers are configured for Remote-LDAP authentication -- The bind-timeout and search-timeout values are set to 30 seconds (this is the default)

Workaround

Set the bind-timeout and search-timeout to lower values i.e 5 seconds

Fix Information

1. Configure BIG-IP for remote-LDAP authentication 2. Configure multiple LDAP servers (first few servers should be unreachable/not responding) 3. Test authentication from browser using remote user 4. Auth should be successful

Behavior Change

Guides & references

K10134038: F5 Bug Tracker Filter Names and Tips