Local privilege escalation through undisclosed privilege management
Published Aug 20, 2026 · Updated Aug 21, 2026
Improper privilege management in IBM AIX 7.2 and 7.3 and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. IBM has not disclosed the affected component, privilege-management operation, or attacker-controlled input that triggers the elevation. Exploitation requires existing low-privileged local access and a difficult-to-control condition, with no user interaction.
Summary
What happened
Improper privilege management in IBM AIX 7.2 and 7.3 and PowerVM VIOS 4.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. IBM has not disclosed the affected component, privilege-management operation, or attacker-controlled input that triggers the elevation. Exploitation requires existing low-privileged local access and a difficult-to-control condition, with no user interaction.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-16923
- Published
- Aug 20, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 21, 2026
- Vendor
- IBM
- Product
- AIX
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 21, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=7.2
- Affected versionversion=7.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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