Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- EPSS is 0.20% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2026
CVE-2026-18821High confidence
Power System Out-of-bounds Write
IBM · PowerVM Hypervisor
7.5HighCVSS 3.1
Within 7 days
Patch availableHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs IBM PowerVM Hypervisor and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available01
What, why and how
IBM PowerVM Hypervisor FW1120.00, FW1110.00 through FW1110.30, FW1060.00 through FW1060.80, and FW950.00 through FW950.H2 Power Systems Firmware is affected by a vulnerability in partition firmware during network boot. An unauthenticated attacker on the same network as a partition undergoing network boot can send a malformed packet, allowing arbitrary code to be executed in the partition firmware and compromising everything subsequently loaded by that partition. Other partitions and the managed system are not affected. Only partitions actively performing a network boot are affected, resulting in a confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
What
IBM PowerVM Hypervisor FW1120.00, FW1110.00 through FW1110.30, FW1060.00 through FW1060.80, and FW950.00 through FW950.H2 Power Systems Firmware is affected by a vulnerability in partition firmware during network boot. An unauthenticated attacker on the same network as a partition undergoing network boot can send a malformed packet, allowing arbitrary code to be executed in the partition firmware and compromising everything subsequently loaded by that partition. Other partitions and the managed system are not affected. Only partitions actively performing a network boot are affected, resulting in a confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Why
A bounds error lets data be written beyond the intended memory region, potentially corrupting control data.
How
An attacker operating through an adjacent network may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
What
IBM PowerVM Hypervisor FW1120.00, FW1110.00 through FW1110.30, FW1060.00 through FW1060.80, and FW950.00 through FW950.H2 Power Systems Firmware is affected by a vulnerability in partition firmware during network boot. An unauthenticated attacker on the same network as a partition undergoing network boot can send a malformed packet, allowing arbitrary code to be executed in the partition firmware and compromising everything subsequently loaded by that partition. Other partitions and the managed system are not affected. Only partitions actively performing a network boot are affected, resulting in a confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Why
A bounds error lets data be written beyond the intended memory region, potentially corrupting control data.
How
An attacker operating through an adjacent network may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- an adjacent network → Out-of-bounds Write → execute code or commands in the affected security context
- Attack surface
- Adjacent
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-787 ↗
CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write. The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVAdjacentAttack vector: The attacker must be on an adjacent or logically close network.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Affected
- PowerVM Hypervisor: FW1120.00, FW1110.00 ≤ FW1110.30, FW1060.00 ≤ FW1060.80, FW950.00 ≤ FW950.H2
- Fixed
- Customers with the products below should install FW1110.31(1110_134), FW1120.01(1120_167), or newer to remediate this vulnerability.
- Power 11
- * IBM Power System E1180 (9080-HEU)
- Customers with the products below should install FW1110.31(1110_155), FW1120.01(1120_190), or newer to remediate this vulnerability.
- * IBM Power System S1122 (9824-22A)
- * IBM Power System S1124 (9824-42A)
- * IBM Power System S1122s (9824-22B)
- * IBM Power System S1114 (9824-41B)
- * IBM Power System L1122 (9856-22H)
- * IBM Power System L1124 (9856-42H)
- * IBM Power System E1150 (9043-MRU)
- Customers with the products below should install FW1120.01(1120_190), or newer to remediate this vulnerability.
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
Official vendor articles1 stored document
Linked articles are downloaded and versioned as source evidence. A CVE mention or approved update relationship does not, by itself, verify a fix for every product branch.
- Security Bulletin: This Power System update is being released to address CVE-2026-18821 →Original publisher ↗Searchable text snapshot · Captured 27 Sep 2026IBM Support No results were found for your search query. Tips To return expected results, you can: Reduce the number of search terms. Each term you use focuses the search further. Check your spelling. A single misspelled or incorrectly typed term can change your result. Try substituting synonyms for your original ter
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 19 Aug 2026 · Last source change 22 Aug 2026, 03:55 UTC · CWE-787 · Out-of-bounds Write
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-23
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-62876
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added vendor advisory: ibm.com/7283232.psirt@us.ibm.com ↗
- Before
- no authoritative guidance recorded
- After
- vendor advisory: ibm.com/7283232
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.