CVE-2026-7868 in OPENBMC
Summary
by MITRE • 07/28/2026
IBM OPENBMC FW1110.00 through FW1110.20, and FW1060.00 through FW1060.71 allows ReadOnly users to escalate privileges and give themselves administrator privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/28/2026
This vulnerability exists within IBM OpenBMC firmware versions ranging from FW1110.00 through FW1110.20 and FW1060.00 through FW1060.71, representing a critical privilege escalation flaw that undermines the security model of these remote management systems. The vulnerability specifically affects ReadOnly users who should theoretically possess limited access rights to the system's management interfaces. However, due to insufficient authorization checks and improper access control mechanisms, these users can exploit the flaw to elevate their privileges and assume full administrator status within the BMC environment.
The technical root cause stems from inadequate validation of user permissions during privilege modification operations within the firmware's authentication subsystem. This represents a classic example of insecure direct object reference vulnerability as described in CWE-285, where the system fails to properly verify that the requesting user has sufficient privileges before allowing administrative actions. The flaw likely manifests through improper session management or insufficient access control list validation when processing privilege escalation requests from authenticated users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it allows attackers with ReadOnly credentials to completely compromise the BMC management interface and gain unrestricted access to all system functions, including configuration changes, firmware updates, user management, and potentially access to underlying hardware components. This creates a significant risk for enterprise environments where BMC systems are used for remote server management, as it essentially provides a backdoor that allows unauthorized users to bypass normal security controls and assume complete administrative control over the managed hardware.
From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to privilege escalation techniques under T1068, where adversaries leverage weaknesses in access control mechanisms to gain higher privileges. The flaw also relates to credential access patterns through T1550, as it enables unauthorized users to obtain administrative credentials through legitimate system interfaces. Organizations using affected IBM OpenBMC versions face substantial risk of persistent compromise, as the elevated privileges could be used to establish persistence mechanisms or exfiltrate sensitive configuration data.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate firmware updates to patched versions that address the privilege escalation vulnerability, along with implementing network segmentation to limit access to BMC management interfaces. Organizations should also enforce strict access controls and monitoring of BMC activities, particularly focusing on unusual privilege escalation events. Additionally, regular security assessments of BMC configurations and user access rights should be conducted to identify and remediate similar authorization flaws that may exist within the broader system architecture.