CVE-2026-16989

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Privilege Escalation via Symbolic Link in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Publication date: 2026-08-20

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 gain elevated privileges due to improper resolution of symbolic links.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published

2026-08-20

Last Modified

2026-08-24

Generated

2026-09-10

AI Q&A

2026-08-21

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-09

NVD

CVE-2026-16989

EUVD

EUVD-2026-63618

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-59	The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability in IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges by exploiting improper handling of symbolic links. This could let the attacker bypass security restrictions and execute commands with higher permissions than intended.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves improper resolution of symbolic links in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS. Detection requires checking for vulnerable versions of these systems and reviewing system logs for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. Use 'oslevel -s' to check AIX version and 'ioslevel' for VIOS. Inspect symbolic links in critical directories with 'ls -l' and monitor for unexpected privilege changes in audit logs.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker with local access to gain root or administrative privileges on affected systems. This may lead to unauthorized data access, system modifications, or disruption of services running on the vulnerable IBM AIX or PowerVM VIOS systems.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability allows local attackers to gain elevated privileges through improper symbolic link resolution. Such privilege escalation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, which may violate compliance requirements under GDPR (data protection) and HIPAA (health information security) by exposing personal or protected health information.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply IBM-provided patches or updates for AIX 7.2, 7.3, and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 to resolve symbolic link handling issues. Monitor IBM security advisories for fixes and restrict local user access until patches are applied.

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