CVE-2026-96261: CWE-121 Stack-based Buffer Overflow in IBM PowerVM Hypervisor
Description
IBM Power Systems Firmware FW1060.00 through FW1060.81 is affected by a vulnerability in host firmware configuration parsing. An attacker with authenticated service-level access to the service processor can write specially crafted configuration data, causing the host firmware boot stack to crash with possible memory corruption during system initialisation, resulting in an integrity and availability impact to the managed system.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.3high
Affected software
IBM
PowerVM Hypervisor
cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powervm_hypervisor:fw1060.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:*cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powervm_hypervisor:fw1060.00.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powervm_hypervisor:fw1060.81:*:*:*:*:*:*:*cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powervm_hypervisor:fw1060.81.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
CVE-2026-96261 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-121) in IBM Power Systems Firmware versions FW1060.00 through FW1060.81. The flaw exists in the host firmware configuration parsing component. An attacker who has authenticated service-level access to the service processor can exploit this vulnerability by writing specially crafted configuration data. This triggers a crash of the host firmware boot stack and may cause memory corruption during system initialization, impacting system integrity and availability.
Potential Impact
The vulnerability can cause the host firmware boot stack to crash and potentially corrupt memory during system initialization. This leads to integrity and availability issues for the managed system, potentially disrupting normal operations. Confidentiality is not impacted according to the CVSS vector.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Since no patch or official fix information is provided, it is recommended to monitor IBM's advisories for updates. Until a fix is available, restrict authenticated service-level access to the service processor to trusted personnel only.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- ibm
- Date Reserved
- 2026-09-22T20:12:49.495Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6acd4b482cdf04f656d3ef76
Added to database: 10/12/2026, 21:04:08 UTC
Last enriched: 10/12/2026, 21:18:39 UTC
Last updated: 10/12/2026, 23:19:06 UTC
Views: 5
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