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IBM RSCT EUVDEUVD-2026-63096

| CVE-2026-14514 MEDIUM
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (CWE-770)
2026-08-19 psirt@us.ibm.com GHSA-q5hh-ggj2-4767
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: us
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Gain adjacent network segment access
  2. Delivery
    Send specially crafted malformed request to RSCT service
  3. Exploit
    Trigger CWE-770 unbounded resource allocation
  4. Execution
    Exhaust service resources
  5. Persist
    RSCT cluster manager crashes
  6. Impact
    Cluster availability disrupted

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Resource allocation limits
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

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

Exploitation Conditions

No special configuration or elevated privileges are required once network adjacency is established - the CVSS vector (AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) confirms unauthenticated exploitation with low complexity from the adjacent network. The sole prerequisite is that the attacker occupies the same network segment, subnet, or broadcast domain as the RSCT management interface; this typically means access to the cluster's private interconnect or management VLAN. Internet-based exploitation is not possible in standard deployments. The limiting factors are: (1) network adjacency requirement, which confines risk to internal or co-located attackers; (2) impact is availability-only - no data exfiltration or integrity compromise is achievable through this vector; and (3) no specific RSCT feature or non-default configuration is identified as a prerequisite beyond the service being reachable.

Impact

The CVSS vector (AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, score 6.5) accurately reflects a bounded but meaningful risk: unauthenticated exploitation is possible but only from an adjacent network segment, which is the dominant risk-limiting factor. EPSS data was not included in the provided intelligence, so quantitative exploitation probability cannot be assessed. This CVE is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog and no public proof-of-concept has been identified, indicating no confirmed active exploitation at time of analysis. The practical blast radius depends heavily on whether the RSCT management network is properly segmented - operators who have exposed cluster management interfaces to broader enterprise or guest VLANs face meaningfully higher risk than those with strict network isolation. The combination of AV:A constraint, DoS-only impact (no data exposure), and absence of known exploitation makes this a moderate-priority finding; it warrants patching on a normal patch cycle rather than emergency response, unless RSCT availability is directly load-bearing for critical production workloads.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with foothold on the cluster management network - for example, via a compromised node or misconfigured VLAN - sends a specially crafted malformed request to the RSCT service endpoint. The lack of input bounds enforcement (CWE-770) causes the service to allocate resources without limit, exhausting available memory or threads and crashing the cluster manager. This disrupts cluster coordination, potentially taking dependent workloads or failover mechanisms offline. No public proof-of-concept is known, but the low attack complexity (AC:L) suggests the trigger condition is not difficult to reproduce once network access is established.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 19, 2026

Denial of service in IBM Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT) 3.0 allows an unauthenticated attacker on an adjacent network segment to crash or disable cluster services by sending a specially crafted request. The root cause is improper input validation (CWE-770), which fails to bound resource consumption on malformed input, producing a full availability impact with no confidentiality or integrity exposure. No active exploitation has been identified and no public proof-of-concept is known at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

Consult the IBM vendor advisory at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7283963 for patch availability and exact fix version; no specific patched version number was included in the available intelligence data, so it cannot be cited here. As a compensating control while patching is evaluated, enforce strict network segmentation to ensure RSCT cluster management interfaces are reachable only from trusted cluster nodes - the AV:A attack vector means firewall or VLAN isolation directly eliminates the attack surface for external or lateral attackers. Additionally, deploy input-rate limiting or connection throttling at the network layer in front of RSCT services to reduce the impact of malformed request floods. Note that network isolation may complicate legitimate remote cluster administration workflows and should be coordinated with operations teams.

Affected VersionsENISA

Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT) 3.0

Affected Packages

euvd reliable_scalable_cluster_technology_rsct 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 RSCT is enterprise middleware that provides high-availability cluster management and resource arbitration, typically deployed in AIX-based or Linux-based HPC and mission-critical enterprise environments. CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) identifies the root cause class: the software does not enforce limits on resource consumption when parsing or processing incoming network requests, allowing a malformed payload to exhaust memory, file descriptors, threads, or similar resources. The CVSS attack vector AV:A confirms that affected RSCT services listen on adjacent-network-accessible interfaces - consistent with cluster interconnect or management-plane network exposure - rather than being internet-facing. No CPE string was supplied in the available intelligence; affected scope is stated as version 3.0 per the IBM advisory.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (us) PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 6.5 MEDIUM

AV:A reflects cluster management network exposure; PR:N confirmed by description; only availability impacted with no confidentiality or integrity effect.

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

Primary rating from Vendor (us).

CVSS VectorVendor: us

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

DescriptionCVE.org

IBM Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT) 3.0 could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service by sending a specially crafted request due improper input validation.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 77% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
IBM enterprise/HPC cluster middleware, limited production 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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
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
Controlled
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

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

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