CVE-2026-17138: Vulnerabilities in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS

Critical 9.8 EPSS 0.7% IBM AIX

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code due to a stack-based buffer overflow.

CVE-2026-17138CVE identifier
9.8CVSS 3.1 base score (critical)
0.7%EPSS: chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 52% of CVEs)
2026-08-20published

What do these terms mean? CVE · CVSS score · exploited (KEV) · EPSS · backported fix · all terms

What to do now

Check whether you run IBM AIX and which version (commands below).
Install the fixed version for your system: see “Patch it” below.
Reboot if the fix or emgr output says so (kernel/library fixes)

Affected and fixed versions

Affected:

IBM AIX 7.2
IBM AIX 7.3
IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1

Patch it

Use the commands for your system. Distribution packages often keep an older version number with the fix backported, so compare with the fixed package versions in the table below, not only with the upstream version.

AIX

interim fix: emgr -e <ifix>.epkg.Z, or Technology Level/Service Pack via suma and installp

General update steps for every system are on the Linux and Unix & BSD pages; after updating, see which services to restart.

Sources

Page generated automatically from official sources on 2026-11-03 18:05 UTC. Always confirm with your vendor's advisory.