CVE-2026-16855

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Heap Buffer Overflow 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 local attacker to cause a denial of service due to a heap buffer overflow.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

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-2026-16855

EUVD

EUVD-2026-62748

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-787	The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This is a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. A local attacker could exploit it to cause a denial of service by overflowing a heap buffer.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is a local denial of service issue caused by a heap buffer overflow in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS. Detection requires checking for affected versions and applying IBM's official patches. No direct commands are provided in the CVE details for detection.

Impact Analysis

A successful exploit could crash the system or cause it to become unresponsive, leading to service disruption for users and applications relying on the affected systems.

Compliance Impact

The provided CVE data does not specify direct impacts on compliance with standards like GDPR or HIPAA. The vulnerability is a local denial of service via heap buffer overflow in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS, which may disrupt system availability but lacks explicit compliance-related details.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS security patches or updates as soon as they are available to address the heap buffer overflow issue.

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