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CVE-2026-18821

HIGH 7.5

Published 2026-08-19 · Last modified 2026-08-22

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.

ELEVATED IMPACT

Severe if exploited (CVSS 7.5), but no known exploitation and low modeled probability. Patch on a normal cadence.

Exploitation likelihood

0.2%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 9th percentile

○ In CISA KEV ○ Public exploit / PoC

Impact if exploited

7.5CVSS 3.1 · HIGH

  • ConfidentialityHigh
  • IntegrityHigh
  • AvailabilityHigh

What an attacker needs

  • Access: Must sit on the same / adjacent network
  • Privileges: No account or privileges required
  • User interaction: No user interaction needed
  • Complexity: Needs a race window or specific setup

✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it

Proof of concept & exploit code

Test against your own equipment

curl -s https://vulnpedia.com/cve/CVE-2026-18821/poc.jsonMachine-readable PoC index for this CVE (for automation).

Listed for defensive triage, patch verification, and authorized testing on systems you own. Machine-readable: /cve/CVE-2026-18821/poc.json

Affected

Vendors Ibm

Products Powervm Hypervisor

Weakness (CWE)

  • CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

All CVSS metrics

  • HIGH 7.5 v3.1 · CNA Primary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
  • HIGH 7.5 v3.1 · NVD Secondary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Patches & mitigations

Sources: NVD · CVE.org · EPSS