Description

IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to perform unauthorized operations and access sensitive information due to improper session management.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-13T20:17:18.153Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-13T20:17:18.153Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A session management vulnerability exists within IBM i versions 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 that could permit a remote authenticated attacker to execute unauthorized operations and access sensitive system information. The vulnerability stems from improper handling and validation of user sessions within the affected platform architecture.\nThe primary impact of this security flaw includes confidentiality breaches through unauthorized data exposure and integrity violations via unauthorized operational execution. An attacker must possess valid authentication credentials to leverage this vulnerability, indicating that exploitation requires an initial foothold within the system perimeter.\nRisk implications are significant for enterprise environments relying on IBM i, as successful exploitation undermines foundational access controls and session isolation boundaries. The lack of proper session lifecycle management allows malicious actors to manipulate session contexts maliciously.\nOrganizations utilizing the specified IBM i versions face elevated exposure if compensating controls or official vendor patches are not promptly applied to enforce strict session validation mechanisms and restrict unauthorized boundary crossings.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper session management logic within the affected IBM i platform components across versions 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, and 7.6. Specifically, the system fails to adequately track, validate, or terminate user session states, leading to predictable or manipulable session contexts.\nExploitation of this vulnerability requires a remote attacker to have valid authentication credentials, meaning the threat actor must first bypass initial perimeter defenses or compromise legitimate user accounts. Once authenticated, the attacker interacts with vulnerable session-handling routines to subvert access control lists and privilege boundaries.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the authenticated attacker establishes a legitimate session with the IBM i environment. Second, leveraging the improper session management implementation, the attacker crafts specially manipulated requests or exploits session reuse mechanics. Third, the platform fails to properly validate the session constraints or authorization context associated with the operations.\nAs a result, the application processes the unauthorized commands or grants access to sensitive information repositories typically restricted to higher privilege tiers or distinct user contexts. The vulnerable component involves the internal session tracking and state validation modules responsible for governing user interactions and maintaining session isolation.\nNetwork exposure is present wherever remote management, terminal access, or application services are accessible over the network for the affected IBM i versions. Post-exploitation impact encompasses unauthorized data exfiltration, execution of privileged administrative routines, and potential lateral movement or persistence establishment within the enterprise infrastructure depending on the scope of the compromised session context."
}