CVE-2026-17165

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Denial of Service in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Publication date: 2026-08-20

Last updated on: 2026-08-25

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 a NULL pointer dereference.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-20

Last Modified

2026-08-25

Generated

2026-09-10

AI Q&A

2026-08-21

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-09

NVD

CVE-2026-17165

EUVD

EUVD-2026-63724

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-476	The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.

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 a NULL pointer dereference. This means the system crashes or becomes unresponsive when processing certain inputs.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is a NULL pointer dereference issue in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS. Detection typically requires checking system logs for crashes or service disruptions related to network services. No specific commands are provided in the available context.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability could disrupt services by causing the affected systems to crash or stop responding. This may lead to downtime for critical operations relying on IBM AIX or PowerVM VIOS.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability causes a denial of service due to a NULL pointer dereference, which could disrupt system availability. For compliance standards like GDPR and HIPAA, availability is a key requirement. Disruptions could lead to non-compliance if systems fail to maintain timely access to data.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply IBM-provided patches or updates for AIX 7.2, 7.3, and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 to address the NULL pointer dereference issue. Monitor IBM security advisories for fixes and test patches in a non-production environment before deployment.

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