Description

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code due to a stack buffer overflow.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-19T20:17:05.360Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-19T20:17:05.360Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A stack buffer overflow vulnerability has been identified in IBM AIX 7.2, IBM AIX 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. This critical security flaw involves memory corruption within the affected operating systems and virtualization management components. A remote attacker can exploit this weakness to achieve arbitrary code execution on target systems, posing severe risk implications to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack vector enables unauthorized malicious actors to compromise underlying system architectures without requiring prior authentication or complex user interaction, provided network exposure exists to the vulnerable service. Successful exploitation grants the adversary the ability to execute arbitrary payloads in the context of the vulnerable process, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The root cause stems from insufficient bounds checking during the processing of input data, allowing data to overwrite adjacent stack memory structures, including return addresses and execution pointers. Organizations operating the specified versions of IBM AIX and IBM PowerVM VIOS must prioritize defensive remediation strategies to prevent potential remote exploitation and subsequent system-level compromise.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is classified as a stack buffer overflow, residing within the core binary handling or networking routines of IBM AIX 7.2, IBM AIX 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. The root cause of the flaw is the lack of proper input validation and boundary checks when the vulnerable component processes incoming data streams or parameters. Specifically, when an oversized input is supplied to the vulnerable function, the routine copies the data into a fixed-size stack-allocated buffer without verifying that the input length does not exceed the allocated memory space.\nExploitation of this vulnerability occurs via the network protocol stack exposed by the affected services running on IBM AIX or IBM PowerVM VIOS. A remote attacker initiates the attack flow by crafting a specialized, malicious payload designed to exceed the capacity of the target stack buffer. Upon transmission to the vulnerable service, the input processing routine writes the excess bytes past the boundary of the local buffer. This memory corruption overwrites critical stack control data, notably the saved frame pointer and the return instruction pointer.\nWhen the affected function attempts to return execution control to its caller, the overwritten instruction pointer is loaded into the processor, redirecting execution flow to attacker-controlled memory locations containing shellcode or return-oriented programming (ROP) chains. Depending on the privileges of the compromised process, the payload behavior can range from local privilege escalation to full remote code execution with elevated system privileges. The vulnerability requires network exposure to the vulnerable service, but typically does not mandate authentication or specific pre-existing privileges, lowering the threshold for successful exploitation by remote threat actors."
}