IBM AIX/PowerVM VIOS 7.2/7.3 DHCP Options os command injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS 7.2/7.3. It has been classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component DHCP Options. This manipulation causes os command injection. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-16848. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS 7.2/7.3 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code block of the component DHCP Options. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a os command injection vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-78. The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands due to improper neutralization of shell metacharacters in DHCP options.

The advisory is shared at ibm.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-16848 since 07/24/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/19/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1202 for this issue.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• IBM

Name

• AIX
• PowerVM VIOS

Version

• 7.2
• 7.3

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.ibm.com/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Discussion