Description

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

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-20T22:17:07.983Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-20T22:17:07.983Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A buffer overflow vulnerability has been identified in IBM AIX 7.2, IBM AIX 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. This security flaw originates from improper bounds checking during the processing of input data within the affected operating systems and virtualization components.\nSuccessful exploitation of this vulnerability allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially compromising the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the underlying system.\nThe risk implication is severe, as local code execution often serves as a critical vector for full system compromise, privilege escalation, and lateral movement within virtualized environments.\nThe attack capability requires local access to the target system. Specific exploitation prerequisites, such as local user credentials or interaction, are inherent to local attack vectors, though specialized execution paths are not explicitly detailed beyond local context requirements.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is fundamentally a buffer overflow condition affecting IBM AIX 7.2, IBM AIX 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1. The root cause lies in the vulnerable component's failure to adequately bound input sizes when copying memory or processing local data structures, leading to adjacent memory corruption.\nExploitation of this flaw requires the attacker to possess local access to the vulnerable system. By supplying a specially crafted input exceeding the allocated buffer size, the attacker can overwrite adjacent stack or heap memory regions. This memory corruption allows the manipulation of critical execution flow variables, such as return addresses or function pointers.\nThe attack flow typically proceeds with the local user invoking a vulnerable binary, system call, or administrative interface with malformed parameters designed to trigger the buffer overflow. Upon processing the malicious input, the instruction pointer is redirected to attacker-controlled shellcode or payload residing within the corrupted memory space.\nGiven the privileges associated with the vulnerable components in IBM AIX and IBM PowerVM VIOS, successful payload execution results in arbitrary code execution in the context of the affected process, frequently leading to local privilege escalation.\nNetwork exposure is not a direct requirement for this vulnerability, as the attack vector is strictly local. Authentication requirements depend on the local interface being abused, but standard local system access is the baseline prerequisite for exploitation."
}