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IBM AIX CVE-2026-18670

| EUVDEUVD-2026-63738 CRITICAL
Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190)
2026-08-20 psirt@us.ibm.com GHSA-cjp4-x5rh-9pqj
9.1
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Reach exposed AIX/VIOS network service
  2. Delivery
    Send crafted request with malformed size field
  3. Exploit
    Trigger integer underflow in size calculation
  4. Execution
    Force out-of-bounds read or bad allocation
  5. Impact
    Crash service and leak adjacent memory

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Integer overflow checks
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Per the CVSS vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N), no authentication or user interaction is required and exploitation is remote against the affected service - the limiting factor is network reachability of the vulnerable AIX 7.2/7.3 or VIOS 4.1 service, which in well-segmented Power environments is typically confined to a management network. The provided data does not name the exact vulnerable daemon, protocol, or whether a non-default configuration is required, so the precise triggering endpoint should be confirmed from the IBM advisory; realistic risk is highest where AIX/VIOS management or network services are exposed beyond a trusted segment.

Impact

The signals are mixed. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/C:H/I:N/A:H) frames this as critical: network-reachable, low complexity, no privileges or user interaction, with high confidentiality and availability impact. However, corroborating exploitation signals are weak - EPSS is only 0.51% (41st percentile), SSVC records Exploitation as 'none', and the vulnerability is not in CISA KEV, so this is a serious-but-not-yet-exploited issue rather than an active emergency. Counterbalancing that, SSVC marks the flaw Automatable=yes with partial technical impact, meaning that if a reliable trigger emerges it could be scripted at scale, so exposed AIX/VIOS management interfaces should be prioritized for patching. Note a plausible tension worth verifying with IBM: the description says only that the flaw 'could... potentially disclose sensitive information,' which reads as uncertain/limited, yet the vector encodes C:H - the true confidentiality impact may be lower than the headline score implies.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with network access to an exposed AIX or VIOS service sends a crafted request whose length or size field triggers the integer underflow, wrapping a size calculation to a huge value. The resulting out-of-bounds access crashes the targeted service (denying I/O virtualization on VIOS or a network service on AIX) and may return fragments of adjacent process memory to the attacker. No public exploit code has been identified, so this remains a plausible but not yet demonstrated attack.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
No patch listed yet 0.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv2 – Aug 25, 2026

Remote denial-of-service and potential information disclosure in IBM AIX 7.2/7.3 and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 arises from an integer underflow (CWE-190 class) reachable over the network without authentication. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send crafted input that triggers the arithmetic wraparound, crashing an affected service and possibly reading sensitive memory contents. There is no public exploit identified at time of analysis, EPSS is low (0.51%, 41st percentile), and it is not on CISA KEV.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Aug 20, 2026 - 22:56 CVSS 8.2

Remote unauthenticated denial of service and limited information disclosure affect IBM AIX 7.2 and 7.3, and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1, via an integer underflow in a network-accessible component. The CVSS 8.2 High rating reflects zero authentication barriers (PR:N/UI:N) over a network vector, with high availability impact and incidental confidentiality leakage. No public exploit code and no CISA KEV listing have been identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

Apply the fixes described in IBM's advisory at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7283858; the provided data confirms a patch is available per vendor advisory but does not include an exact fixed version/technology level, so obtain the specific APAR/ifix or TL/SP levels for AIX 7.2, AIX 7.3, and VIOS 4.1 directly from that IBM support page (do not rely on an assumed version number). Until patched, reduce exposure by restricting network reachability of the affected AIX/VIOS services to trusted management networks only - place VIOS and AIX management interfaces behind firewall ACLs or a dedicated management VLAN, and block untrusted access to the affected service port. These access restrictions trade off remote manageability and may disrupt legitimate remote administration or virtualization workflows, so scope them to management subnets rather than blanket blocks, and monitor the affected services for crashes as an interim detection.

Affected VersionsENISA

PowerVM VIOS 4.1
AIX 7.2
AIX 7.3

Affected Packages

euvd aix no fix
euvd powervm_vios no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 2 packages in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

AIX is IBM's proprietary Unix operating system for POWER architecture servers, and PowerVM VIOS (Virtual I/O Server) is the AIX-based appliance that virtualizes storage and network I/O for LPARs on Power systems. The root cause is an integer underflow - classified under CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound) - in which a subtraction or size calculation drops below zero and wraps to a very large unsigned value. Such a miscalculated length/index can then drive an out-of-bounds read or an undersized allocation, producing both the availability loss (crash) and the confidentiality exposure (reading adjacent memory) noted in the description. The CPE data confirms the affected components as the AIX operating system (cpe:2.3:o:ibm:aix) and the VIOS application (cpe:2.3:a:ibm:vios); the specific vulnerable network-facing service or daemon is not identified in the provided data.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (us) PRIMARY HIGH
NVD 9.1 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 8.2 HIGH

Remote unauthenticated low-complexity trigger justifies AV:N/AC:L/PR:N; DoS gives A:H, but the description's tentative 'potentially disclose' supports C:L rather than C:H, with no integrity impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (us).

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Severity Changed
Aug 25, 2026 - 13:52 NVD
HIGH CRITICAL
CVSS changed
Aug 25, 2026 - 13:52 NVD
8.2 (HIGH) 9.1 (CRITICAL)
CVE Published
Aug 20, 2026 - 22:17 nvd
HIGH 8.2

DescriptionNVD

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service and potentially disclose sensitive information due to an integer underflow.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Critical remote denial-of-service vulnerability in IBM AIX 7.2/7.3 and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 allows unauthenticated attackers to crash affected services and potentially read sensitive memory without authentication. Organizations running these core virtualization and server systems face immediate risks to infrastructure availability and data confidentiality with no vendor patch currently available.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Network segmentation to restrict remote access to affected AIX and VIOS systems; disable non-essential network services where operationally feasible; deploy IDS/IPS detection for exploitation attempts; implement enhanced monitoring and alerting for unexpected service crashes or memory anomalies; maintain current backups and DR procedures; consider air-gapping or restricting these systems to isolated management networks until patches or upgrades are deployed.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.5%
Top 59% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
enterprise IBM Power Unix, significant but niche datacenter footprint
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.5%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
Yes
Human Impact
Very High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

47
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +46
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Integer overflow occurs when an arithmetic operation produces a result that exceeds the maximum value a given integer type can store.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

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