IBM AIX/PowerVM VIOS buffer overflow

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.4$5k-$25k0.87

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as very critical has been found in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality. The manipulation results in buffer overflow. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-16944. Attacking locally is a requirement. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS (the affected version unknown). It has been classified as very critical. Affected is an unknown part. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

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 stack-based buffer overflow.

The advisory is shared for download at ibm.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-16944 since 07/24/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. The exploitation requires an enhanced level of successful authentication. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 08/22/2026).

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

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2026-63676). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Temp Score: 8.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 6.7
CNA Vector (ibm): 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Buffer overflow
CWE: CWE-120 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Timelineinfo

07/24/2026 CVE reserved
08/20/2026 +27 days Advisory disclosed
08/20/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/22/2026 +2 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: ibm.com

Advisory: ibm.com
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-16944 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-16944
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-393900
EUVD: 🔒

Entryinfo

Created: 08/20/2026 23:56
Updated: 08/22/2026 09:46
Changes: 08/20/2026 23:56 (61), 08/22/2026 09:46 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Interested in the pricing of exploits?

See the underground prices here!