CVE-2026-17503

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

IBM PowerVM Hypervisor Boot Configuration Integrity Flaw

Publication date: 2026-09-24

Last updated on: 2026-09-30

Assigner: IBM Corporation

Description

IBM PowerVM Hypervisor FW1120.00 through FW1120.01, FW1110.00 through FW1110.31, FW1060.00 through FW1060.81, and FW950.00 through FW950.H3 is affected by a vulnerability in the partition firmware runtime boot configuration. An attacker with root access to a partition can maliciously alter partition nvram, causing the partition to fail to boot. This condition persists until operator intervention — deleting and recreating the partition configuration — to restore normal operation. Successful exploitation results in an integrity and availability impact.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-09-24

Last Modified

2026-09-30

Generated

2026-10-14

AI Q&A

2026-09-24

EPSS Evaluated

2026-10-13

NVD

CVE-2026-17503

EUVD

EUVD-2026-85889

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
ibm	power_system_s1122_(9824-22a)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1122_(9824-22a)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1124_(9824-42a)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1124_(9824-42a)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1122s_(9824-22b)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1122s_(9824-22b)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1114_(9824-41b)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1114_(9824-41b)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_l1122_(9856-22h)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_l1122_(9856-22h)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_l1124_(9856-42h)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_l1124_(9856-42h)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e1150_(9043-mru)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e1150_(9043-mru)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1112_(9242-21b)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1112_(9242-21t)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e1080_(9080-hex)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1022_(9105-22a)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1024_(9105-42a)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1022s_(9105-22b)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1014_(9105-41b)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_l1022_(9786-22h)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_l1024_(9786-42h)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e1050_(9043-mrx)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s1012_(9028-21b)_firmware	From fw1060.00 (inc) to fw1060.82 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e1180_(9080-heu)_firmware	From fw1110.00 (inc) to fw1110.32 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e1180_(9080-heu)_firmware	From fw1120.00 (inc) to fw1120.02 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s922_(9009-22g)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)
ibm	power_system_h922_(9223-22s)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s914_(9009-41g)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)
ibm	power_system_s924_(9009-42g)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)
ibm	power_system_h924_(9223-42s)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e950_(9040-mr9)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)
ibm	power_system_e980_(9080-m9s)_firmware	From fw950.00 (inc) to fw950.h4 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-20	The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-17503 is a vulnerability in IBM PowerVM Hypervisor firmware affecting partition firmware runtime boot configuration. An attacker with root access to a partition can alter partition NVRAM maliciously, causing the partition to fail booting. This requires operator intervention to fix by deleting and recreating the partition configuration.

Detection Guidance

Detection involves checking the firmware version of PowerVM Hypervisor. Compare installed versions against affected ranges (FW1120.00-FW1120.01, FW1110.00-FW1110.31, FW1060.00-FW1060.81, FW950.00-FW950.H3). Use IBM tools or commands like lsmcode or viosvrcmd to verify firmware levels.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to partition failure to boot, resulting in loss of system availability and potential data integrity issues. It requires high privileges (root access) to exploit and has low attack complexity. Successful exploitation causes persistent disruption until manual recovery steps are taken.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily impacts integrity and availability of IBM PowerVM Hypervisor systems. While not directly tied to GDPR or HIPAA, it could indirectly affect compliance by causing system unavailability or data integrity issues if exploited. Organizations handling regulated data (e.g., health records under HIPAA or personal data under GDPR) may face disruptions or integrity violations if partitions fail to boot due to malicious NVRAM alterations.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the latest firmware updates specific to your system. For PowerVM Hypervisor FW1110.00-FW1110.31, install FW1110.32(1110_138) or newer. For Power 10 systems, install FW1060.82(1060_189) or newer. Download updates from IBM Fix Central and follow IBM's installation instructions.

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