CVE-2026-16897

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Denial of Service in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Publication date: 2026-08-19

Last updated on: 2026-08-20

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 an out-of-bounds write.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-19

Last Modified

2026-08-20

Generated

2026-09-09

AI Q&A

2026-08-20

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-07

NVD

CVE-2026-16897

EUVD

EUVD-2026-62827

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-369	The product divides a value by zero.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is an out-of-bounds write issue in IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. It allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service by exploiting memory corruption due to writing outside the intended memory bounds.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is a local denial of service issue in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS systems. Detection requires checking system logs for crashes or unusual behavior, as there are no specific public commands provided for this CVE. Monitor for kernel panics or application failures.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability could cause the affected system to crash or become unresponsive, leading to service disruption. Since it requires local access, attackers must already have some level of access to the system to trigger the issue.

Compliance Impact

The vulnerability causes a denial of service due to an out-of-bounds write, which could disrupt system availability. This may impact compliance with standards requiring high availability, such as HIPAA for healthcare systems or GDPR for data processing environments, by potentially leading to service unavailability.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS security patches or updates as soon as they become available to address the out-of-bounds write issue.

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