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IBM i EUVDEUVD-2026-58375

| CVE-2026-16871 MEDIUM
Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)
2026-08-13 ibm GHSA-m4f8-qw3g-pj92
4.3
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: ibm
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Obtain valid low-privilege IBM i credentials
  2. Delivery
    Authenticate to vulnerable network-accessible IBM i service
  3. Exploit
    Send specially crafted malformed request
  4. Execution
    Trigger heap buffer overflow in service handler
  5. Persist
    Adjacent heap memory contents exposed
  6. Impact
    Extract sensitive information from response

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, write limits
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

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

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires a valid IBM i account with at least low-privilege access (PR:L per CVSS vector); unauthenticated exploitation from the network is not possible with this vulnerability. The attack is network-delivered (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L), meaning no special network position, race condition, or unusual configuration is required beyond ordinary authenticated connectivity to the IBM i system. No user interaction on the victim side is needed. The primary factors limiting exploitation are the authentication prerequisite and the constrained impact - only confidentiality is affected at a low severity level, meaning the attacker can read some memory contents but cannot modify data or cause outages. IBM i systems isolated to trusted internal users only face lower realistic risk than those accessible by broader or partially untrusted authenticated populations.

Impact

Real-world risk is moderate. The CVSS score of 4.3 is consistent with limited-scope exploitation: the attack is network-accessible and low-complexity, but the authentication prerequisite (PR:L) meaningfully restricts the attacker pool to individuals who already possess valid credentials on the target system. No EPSS score is available in the provided data, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified from that signal. The vulnerability is absent from the CISA KEV catalog and no proof-of-concept code has been publicly reported, suggesting no active or widespread exploitation at the time of analysis. A notable inconsistency exists between the CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) classification and the confidentiality-only impact - this warrants verification against the vendor advisory, as the true primitive may differ from the assigned CWE. Environments where IBM i systems are accessible only to highly trusted internal users face reduced practical risk; deployments where a broader authenticated base (contractors, partner integrations, shared application accounts) can reach the service have meaningfully higher exposure.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker holding a valid low-privilege IBM i account - such as a compromised contractor credential or a shared application service account - sends a specially crafted network request to a vulnerable IBM i service. The malformed input triggers a heap buffer overflow that exposes adjacent heap memory contents, which may include sensitive data such as credentials, configuration parameters, or application data resident in memory at the time of exploitation. No public proof-of-concept exploit code has been identified at the time of analysis, so exploitation currently requires independent reproduction of the vulnerability.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 13, 2026

Sensitive information disclosure in IBM i versions 7.3 through 7.6 allows a remote authenticated attacker to read heap memory contents by triggering a heap buffer overflow in a vulnerable network-accessible component. The CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N confirms the attack is network-delivered with low-privilege authentication and yields limited but real confidentiality exposure with no integrity or availability impact. No public exploit code has been identified and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog; IBM has released a patch via PTF advisory and affected customers should apply it as a medium-priority remediation.

RemediationAI

IBM has released a patch for this vulnerability distributed as PTFs through the IBM support portal; the advisory at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7283573 provides the specific PTF numbers for each affected release (7.3, 7.4, 7.5, and 7.6). Administrators should retrieve and apply the relevant PTF using standard IBM i PTF installation procedures (GO PTF or WRKPTFGRP). An exact patched minor version number beyond the PTF advisory is not independently specified in the available data. As a compensating control prior to patching, administrators should audit which authenticated user accounts have network access to the affected IBM i service endpoint and restrict that access to the minimum required set - since exploitation requires at minimum low-privilege credentials (PR:L), reducing the pool of accounts with connectivity directly limits exposure. Enabling IBM i auditing (QAUDLVL) to capture *NETCMN and *SIGNON events can provide detection coverage for anomalous authenticated access patterns while patching is underway.

Affected VersionsENISA

i 7.5
i 7.6
i 7.3
i 7.4

Affected Packages

euvd i no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

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

Technical ContextAI · show details

IBM i (formerly OS/400 and i5/OS) is IBM's proprietary operating system for IBM Power Systems hardware, broadly deployed in enterprise sectors including finance, retail, and manufacturing for mission-critical workloads. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write); however, this classification is in tension with the reported impact of information disclosure only (C:L/I:N/A:N per CVSS). A write primitive typically yields code execution or a crash rather than a pure memory leak - the actual root cause may be closer to CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) or CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow), where heap layout corruption exposes adjacent readable memory. The CPE string cpe:2.3:a:ibm:i:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers the entire IBM i product line across the four affected release families (7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6), which represent IBM's currently supported versions. The network vector and low-complexity rating indicate the triggering condition requires only a crafted request over normal authenticated connectivity.

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Severity by source

Vendor (ibm) PRIMARY 4.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
vuln.today AI 4.3 MEDIUM

Network-delivered requiring low-privilege authentication; impact is confidentiality-only at low severity, consistent with a heap memory disclosure with no write or crash outcome.

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

Primary rating from Vendor (ibm).

CVSS VectorVendor: ibm

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

DescriptionCVE.org

IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to obtain sensitive information due to a heap buffer overflow.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 82% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
enterprise OS on IBM Power Systems, common in finance and manufacturing
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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

22
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +22
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

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