CVE-2026-16875

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Shell Metacharacter Injection in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Publication date: 2026-08-19

Last updated on: 2026-08-22

Assigner: IBM Corporation

Description

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary commands due to shell metacharacter injection.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-19

Last Modified

2026-08-22

Generated

2026-09-09

AI Q&A

2026-08-20

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-07

NVD

CVE-2026-16875

EUVD

EUVD-2026-62873

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
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)
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)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-78	The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a shell metacharacter injection flaw in IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. It allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system by injecting special shell characters into commands.

Detection Guidance

Detection requires checking for vulnerable IBM AIX or PowerVM VIOS versions. Use uname -a to verify AIX version and ioslevel for PowerVM VIOS. Compare against affected versions (AIX 7.2, 7.3; PowerVM VIOS 4.1).

Impact Analysis

A local attacker could exploit this to run unauthorized commands with elevated privileges, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or unauthorized access to sensitive information on the affected IBM AIX or PowerVM VIOS systems.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access or data breaches, which may violate compliance requirements such as GDPR (data protection) or HIPAA (healthcare data security). Organizations using affected systems may face regulatory penalties or legal consequences.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply IBM-provided patches or updates for AIX 7.2, 7.3, and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 to address shell metacharacter injection. Monitor IBM security advisories for fixes and restrict local user access until patches are applied.

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