High severity · published Aug 20, 2026
CVE-2026-16989
Vulnerabilities in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS
7.8
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges due to improper resolution of symbolic links.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 7% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AI
AIX · IBM
7.2; 7.3 · source: vendor, NVD
PV
PowerVM VIOS · IBM
4.1 · source: vendor
VI
Vios · Ibm
4.1.0 before 4.1.0.50; 4.1.1.0 before 4.1.1.30; 4.1.2.0 before 4.1.2.20 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16989
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16989
Patch
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7283858
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