Security Bulletin
Summary
Power Systems Firmware is affected by a vulnerability in host firmware NVRAM parsing. An attacker with root access to a guest partition on an OpenPOWER system can write a specially crafted NVRAM image, causing the host firmware boot stage to crash with possible memory corruption. This condition persists until operator intervention — clearing NVRAM via the service processor — to restore normal operation. This vulnerability only affects OpenPOWER systems; systems running PowerVM are not affected. Successful exploitation results in an integrity and availability impact to the managed system.
Vulnerability Details
CVEID: CVE-2026-17042
DESCRIPTION: Power Systems Firmware is affected by a vulnerability in host firmware NVRAM parsing. An attacker with root access to a guest partition on an OpenPOWER system can write a specially crafted NVRAM image, causing the host firmware boot stage to crash with possible memory corruption. This condition persists until operator intervention — clearing NVRAM via the service processor — to restore normal operation. This vulnerability only affects OpenPOWER systems; systems running PowerVM are not affected. Successful exploitation results in an integrity and availability impact to the managed system.
CWE: CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read
CVSS Source: IBM
CVSS Base score: 7.3
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H)
Affected Products and Versions
| Affected Product(s) | Version(s) |
| Power Firmware | FW950.00 - FW950.H2 |
| Power Firmware | OP940.00 - OP940.a1 (Power9) OP940.00 - OP940.81 (Power HMC) |
Remediation/Fixes
Customers with the products below should install FW950.H3(950_230) or newer to remediate this vulnerability.
Power 9
- IBM Power System S922 (9009-22G)
- IBM Power System H922 (9223-22S)
- IBM Power System S914 (9009-41G)
- IBM Power System S924 (9009-42G)
- IBM Power System H924 (9223-42S)
- IBM Power System E950 (9040-MR9)
- IBM Power System E980 (9080-M9S)
Customers with the products below should install OP940.a2 or newer to remediate this vulnerability.
Power 9
- IBM Power System AC922 (8335-GTH, 8335-GTX)
Customers with the products below should install OP940.82 or newer to remediate this vulnerability.
Power Hardware Management Console
- IBM Power Hardware Management Console (7063-CR2)
The images mentioned above can be located at IBM Fix Central : https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/
Workarounds and Mitigations
None
Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins
References
Acknowledgement
Change History
15 Aug 2026: Initial Publication
*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.
Disclaimer
According to the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) is an "industry open standard designed to convey vulnerability severity and help to determine urgency and priority of response." IBM PROVIDES THE CVSS SCORES ""AS IS"" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF ANY ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL SECURITY VULNERABILITY. In addition to other efforts to address potential vulnerabilities, IBM periodically updates the record of components contained in our product offerings. As part of that effort, if IBM identifies previously unidentified packages in a product/service inventory, we address relevant vulnerabilities regardless of CVE date. Inclusion of an older CVEID does not demonstrate that the referenced product has been used by IBM since that date, nor that IBM was aware of a vulnerability as of that date. We are making clients aware of relevant vulnerabilities as we become aware of them. "Affected Products and Versions" referenced in IBM Security Bulletins are intended to be only products and versions that are supported by IBM and have not passed their end-of-support or warranty date. Thus, failure to reference unsupported or extended-support products and versions in this Security Bulletin does not constitute a determination by IBM that they are unaffected by the vulnerability. Reference to one or more unsupported versions in this Security Bulletin shall not create an obligation for IBM to provide fixes for any unsupported or extended-support products or versions.
Document Location
Worldwide
Was this topic helpful?
Document Information
Modified date:
15 August 2026
Initial Publish date:
15 August 2026
UID
ibm17283240