CVE-2026-16686
Received Received - Intake

Remote Authentication Bypass in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Publication date: 2026-08-19

Last updated on: 2026-08-19

Assigner: IBM Corporation

Description
IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a remote attacker to access NFS-exported filesystems due to improper authentication.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-19
Last Modified
2026-08-19
Generated
2026-08-19
AI Q&A
2026-08-19
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-16686
EUVD
EUVD-2026-62517

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 3 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
ibm aix From 7.2 (inc)
ibm aix From 7.3 (inc)
ibm powervm_vios From 4.1 (inc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-287 When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to access NFS-exported filesystems on IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 due to improper authentication mechanisms.

Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires checking for improperly authenticated NFS access on IBM AIX 7.2/7.3 and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 systems. Inspect NFS exports for misconfigurations using commands like showmount -e on AIX or checking /etc/exports files. Monitor network traffic for unauthorized NFS protocol requests to ports 2049 or 111.

Impact Analysis

An attacker could exploit this to read, modify, or delete sensitive files on affected systems, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized access, or system compromise.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, violating compliance requirements such as GDPR (data protection) and HIPAA (health information privacy), potentially resulting in legal penalties and reputational damage.

Mitigation Strategies

Disable NFS exports if not required or restrict access to trusted networks. Apply IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS security patches immediately. Monitor network traffic for unauthorized NFS access attempts.

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