CVE-2023-30438

Peer-partition code execution via undisclosed isolation failure

Published May 17, 2023 · Updated Jan 22, 2025

Isolation bypass in IBM PowerVM Hypervisor firmware allows local users to execute code in peer partitions on the same physical server. IBM has not published the flawed component or operation that permits the hypervisor to violate logical-partition isolation. Exploitation requires privileged control of one partition and can expose data or run arbitrary code in other partitions on that server.

CVSS severity9.3
Critical
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Isolation bypass in IBM PowerVM Hypervisor firmware allows local users to execute code in peer partitions on the same physical server. IBM has not published the flawed component or operation that permits the hypervisor to violate logical-partition isolation. Exploitation requires privileged control of one partition and can expose data or run arbitrary code in other partitions on that server.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-30438
Published
May 17, 2023
Updated
Jan 22, 2025
Vendor
IBM
Product
PowerVM Hypervisor
Classifications
CWE-264, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 17, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 22, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=FW1010.00 <=FW1010.50
  2. Affected versionversion=FW1020.00 <=FW1020.30
  3. Affected versionversion=FW1030.00 <=FW1030.10
  4. Affected versionversion=FW950.00 <=FW950.70

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

IBM · PowerVM Hypervisorversion=FW1010.00 <=FW1010.50; version=FW1020.00 <=FW1020.30; version=FW1030.00 <=FW1030.10; version=FW950.00 <=FW950.70

Published CVSS scores

9.3IBMCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-264Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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