CVE-2026-16849

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Denial of Service in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Publication date: 2026-08-19

Last updated on: 2026-08-24

Assigner: IBM Corporation

Description

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service due to an improper check for an array index boundary.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-19

Last Modified

2026-08-24

Generated

2026-09-09

AI Q&A

2026-08-20

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-07

NVD

CVE-2026-16849

EUVD

EUVD-2026-62744

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
ibm	aix	From 7.2.5 (inc) to 7.2.5.212 (inc)
ibm	aix	From 7.3.2 (inc) to 7.3.2.5 (inc)
ibm	aix	From 7.3.3 (inc) to 7.3.3.2 (inc)
ibm	aix	From 7.3.4 (inc) to 7.3.4.1 (inc)
ibm	vios	From 4.1.0 (inc) to 4.1.0.50 (exc)
ibm	vios	From 4.1.1.0 (inc) to 4.1.1.30 (exc)
ibm	vios	From 4.1.2.0 (inc) to 4.1.2.20 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-129	The product uses untrusted input when calculating or using an array index, but the product does not validate or incorrectly validates the index to ensure the index references a valid position within the array.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability in IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service by exploiting an improper check for an array index boundary. This means the system fails to validate array access properly, potentially leading to crashes or service disruption.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves an improper array index boundary check in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS. Detection requires checking for specific versions of these systems and monitoring for crashes or service disruptions. No direct commands are provided in the context to detect this issue.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability could cause your IBM AIX or PowerVM VIOS systems to become unresponsive or crash, leading to service outages. This may disrupt critical operations depending on your environment.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to a denial of service, which may impact the availability of systems handling sensitive data. For GDPR, availability is a key principle, so disruptions could affect compliance. For HIPAA, availability of healthcare systems is critical, and such disruptions could pose risks to protected health information access.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply IBM-provided patches or updates for AIX 7.2, 7.3, and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 to address the improper array index boundary check.

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