Bug ID 682241: Escaped '#' is preserved in fields set through 'tmsh'

Last Modified: Sep 14, 2023

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

Known Affected Versions:
13.0.0, 13.0.0 HF1, 13.0.0 HF2, 13.0.0 HF3, 13.0.1, 13.1.0, 13.1.0.1, 13.1.0.2, 13.1.0.3, 13.1.0.4, 13.1.0.5, 13.1.0.6, 13.1.0.7, 13.1.0.8, 13.1.1, 13.1.1.2, 13.1.1.3, 13.1.1.4, 13.1.1.5, 13.1.3, 13.1.3.1, 13.1.3.2, 13.1.3.3, 13.1.3.4, 13.1.3.5, 13.1.3.6, 13.1.4, 13.1.4.1, 13.1.5, 13.1.5.1, 14.0.0, 14.0.0.1, 14.0.0.2, 14.0.0.3, 14.0.0.4, 14.0.0.5, 14.0.1, 14.0.1.1, 14.1.0, 14.1.0.1, 14.1.0.2, 14.1.0.3, 14.1.0.5, 14.1.0.6, 14.1.2, 14.1.2.1, 14.1.2.2, 14.1.2.3, 14.1.2.4, 14.1.2.5, 14.1.2.6, 14.1.2.7, 14.1.2.8, 14.1.3, 14.1.3.1, 14.1.4, 14.1.4.1, 14.1.4.2, 14.1.4.3, 14.1.4.4, 14.1.4.5, 14.1.4.6, 14.1.5, 14.1.5.1, 14.1.5.2, 14.1.5.3, 14.1.5.4, 14.1.5.6, 15.0.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.1.1, 15.0.1.2, 15.0.1.3, 15.0.1.4

Opened: Sep 07, 2017

Severity: 4-Minor

Symptoms

Using 'tmsh' to set monitor fields containing an octothorp ('\#') preserves the included backslash, rather than "absorbing" the backslash into the special character '#'. For example, setting monitor 'username' or 'description' to "abc\#def" or "abc#def" will preserve the '\#' or '#' as provided. This may be surprising if it was assumed that the backslash (escape-character) would be implicitly "absorbed" into the octothorp ('#').

Impact

The backslash is preserved (and not implicitly absorbed as an escaped character preceding the octothorp).

Conditions

tmsh is used to set monitor parameters (such as 'username' or 'description') where the value includes an escaped octothorp ('\#).

Workaround

Do not escape the octothorp with a backslash for monitor values if no backslash is desired; and wrap the value within double-quotes as necessary.

Fix Information

None

Behavior Change

Guides & references

K10134038: F5 Bug Tracker Filter Names and Tips