Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain high-privilege IBM i credentials
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DeliveryCraft multipart request exploiting parser interpretation ambiguity
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ExploitSubmit request over network to IBM i system
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ExecutionSecurity layer misinterprets multipart boundary
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PersistProcessing layer executes restricted operation
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ImpactSecurity restriction bypassed with low-integrity impact
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V4 - API and Web Service Interpretation consistency
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| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires a remote attacker to already hold a high-privilege authenticated account on the targeted IBM i system (PR:H per CVSS vector), which restricts risk to malicious insiders or actors who have separately obtained administrative credentials through a prior compromise. High attack complexity (AC:H) further requires that the attacker precisely craft a multipart payload that successfully triggers the interpretation discrepancy between IBM i's security enforcement layer and its processing component - this is not a trivially reproducible condition and implies non-standard payload construction. The system must be running IBM i version 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, or 7.6 and must be reachable over the network. No user interaction is required once access and the crafted payload are established. The primary constraint limiting exploitation is the mandatory pre-existing high-privilege credential requirement: without it, no network-level exploitation path exists regardless of access. |
| Impact | Real-world risk is meaningfully constrained by multiple limiting factors despite the scope-changed (S:C) designation in the CVSS vector. The High attack complexity (AC:H) and High privilege requirement (PR:H) together mean that successful exploitation requires both a precisely crafted payload and an already-authenticated high-privilege account, reducing the practical attacker population to malicious insiders or actors who have already substantially compromised the target environment. The overall CVSS score of 3.0 accurately reflects these constraints: while the scope change indicates the bypass can cross component boundaries, the impact ceiling remains low across all three dimensions (I:L, C:N, A:N). No EPSS data was provided in the available intelligence; given AC:H and PR:H, probabilistic exploitation likelihood is expected to be minimal, consistent with the low score. No CISA KEV listing and no public exploit code further reduce urgency - even a mid-sized municipal IT team in gdynia managing IBM i infrastructure could reasonably defer this behind higher-severity patching cycles while scheduling it within the normal maintenance window, though remediation remains advisable given that the vulnerability undermines security control integrity. The CVSS vector and description are mutually consistent with no conflicting signals present in the available data. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker holding a high-privilege authenticated session on an IBM i 7.3-7.6 system submits a carefully crafted multipart request designed to trigger a parsing discrepancy between the security enforcement layer and the underlying processing component. The security layer, interpreting the multipart boundaries differently, fails to apply the configured restriction, while the processing layer executes the operation as intended by the attacker, achieving a low-integrity write or action that should have been blocked. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and the high attack complexity indicates reliable exploitation requires precise payload engineering rather than off-the-shelf tooling. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 12, 2026
Security restriction bypass in IBM i 7.3 through 7.6 exploits an interpretation conflict in the multipart parser, enabling a remote attacker with high administrative privileges to circumvent configured access controls with low integrity impact. The flaw (CWE-436) arises when the security enforcement layer and the processing layer disagree on how to interpret multipart message boundaries, allowing carefully crafted requests to evade security checks. No public exploit code and no CISA KEV listing have been identified at time of analysis; IBM has released a patch via its support portal.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor-released patch documented in IBM's support advisory at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7283292; exact PTF numbers and cumulative package identifiers must be obtained directly from that page, as they are not independently confirmed from the available data. While scheduling the patch, organizations can reduce exposure by restricting network access to IBM i systems so that only authorized management hosts can reach the interfaces that invoke multipart parsing, and by auditing high-privilege account activity for anomalous request patterns targeting security boundary components. Tightening high-privilege account provisioning - revoking PR:H accounts that are no longer operationally necessary - directly limits the attacker population, since exploitation requires such credentials. Note that network access restrictions may impact legitimate remote administration workflows and should be validated against operational requirements before deployment.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
IBM i is IBM's proprietary integrated operating system for Power Systems servers, historically known as OS/400 and i5/OS, running on IBM POWER architecture hardware. The vulnerability resides in the system's multipart parser, a component responsible for processing multipart MIME-formatted requests. CWE-436 (Interpretation Conflict) describes a root cause where two components within the same system parse or interpret the same input differently - in this case, the security enforcement layer applies restrictions based on one interpretation of multipart boundary or content structure, while the operational processing layer acts on a differing interpretation, allowing a carefully constructed payload to pass through security gates unintended. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:ibm:i:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covering versions 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, and 7.6.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Network-reachable but requires high-privilege authentication and precisely crafted multipart payload; integrity impact limited to security restriction bypass with no confidentiality or availability effect.
Primary rating from Vendor (ibm).
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionNVD
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to bypass security restrictions due to an interpretation conflict in the multipart parser.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
EUVD-2026-57351
GHSA-xjff-fp5w-v7v9
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB