CVE-2026-85542 is a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) affecting IBM Guardium Data Protection 12.2. The flaw exists in the GIM bundle import feature, where insufficient neutralization of special elements allows an authenticated attacker to supply a malicious bundle. This crafted input causes attacker-controlled arguments to be passed to the tar command, enabling arbitrary command execution with elevated privileges on the Central Manager component. The vulnerability is rated high severity with a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). No vendor patch or advisory details are provided in the input data.

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges on the Central Manager of IBM Guardium Data Protection 12.2. This compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system, potentially leading to full system compromise or disruption of data protection operations.

Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict access to the GIM bundle import functionality to trusted users only and monitor for suspicious activity related to bundle imports. Avoid importing untrusted or unauthenticated bundles.