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Security Bulletin: Multiple vulnerabilities in rpm.rte affect AIX.

Security Bulletin


Summary

Multiple Vulnerabilities in RPM could allow an attacker to cause denial of service (CVE-2026-41992, CVE-2026-56288, CVE-2026-18739), crash or remote code execution (CVE-2026-18743, CVE-2026-56289, CVE-2026-18839). RPM is used by AIX for package management.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID:   CVE-2026-41992
DESCRIPTION:   GNU gzip contains a global buffer overflow vulnerability in the LZH decompression logic caused by improper reuse of shared global state between different decompression formats within a single execution. GNU gzip maintains a global array that is shared across the LZ77, LZW, and LZH decompression routines and is not reinitialized between files processed in the same invocation. By decompressing a specially crafted LZW file followed by a specially crafted LZH file in a single gzip -d command, an attacker can poison the shared global state and subsequently trigger an out‑of‑bounds read in the LZH decoder. The LZH decompression logic follows stale values left in the shared array, causing reads past the end of the allocated global buffer. This issue has been fixed in commits 63dbf6b3b9e6e781df1a6a64e609b10e23969681 and e7378c2d421be6a286922374425680bbe9ad8b7d.
CWE:   CWE-126: Buffer Over-read
CVSS Source:   NVD
CVSS Base score:   7.5
CVSS Vector:   (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

CVEID:   CVE-2026-56288
DESCRIPTION:   GNU patch is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference when processing a specially crafted unified-diff patch file. Improper handling of consecutive end-of-file newline markers can corrupt internal hunk (single block of changes in diff) data structures, causing the application to pass a NULL pointer to fwrite() during patch processing. An attacker can trigger this condition with a malicious patch file, causing the utility to crash and resulting in a denial of service. This issue has been fixed in the commit e6d6a4e021660679d7fc9150f981d4920f722313
CWE:   CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
CVSS Source:   NVD
CVSS Base score:   5.5
CVSS Vector:   (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

CVEID:   CVE-2026-56289
DESCRIPTION:   GNU patch is vulnerable to a denial of service (DoS) due to improper validation of hunk (single block of changes in diff) line offsets in unified-diff input. A specially crafted patch can specify an extremely large line number, causing the application to enter an effectively infinite processing loop while attempting to locate the requested position. This results in excessive CPU consumption and prevents the process from completing. An attacker can trigger this behavior by supplying a malicious patch file, causing the utility to become unresponsive and require manual termination. This issue has been fixed in the commit faba04ef4f2b410257f76c1b9dc85e350929c4b9
CWE:   CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
CVSS Source:   NVD
CVSS Base score:   5.5
CVSS Vector:   (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

CVEID:   CVE-2026-18743
DESCRIPTION:   A flaw was found in popt. This vulnerability allows an attacker to provide specially crafted configuration content to a host, which, when loaded, can lead to a small memory corruption issue. This occurs because of an error in how the `poptConfigFileToString` function reallocates memory for buffers. Successful exploitation could result in heap metadata corruption, potentially causing the affected process to become unavailable (denial of service).
CWE:   CWE-131: Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size
CVSS Source:   secalert@redhat.com
CVSS Base score:   2.5
CVSS Vector:   (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)

CVEID:   CVE-2026-18739
DESCRIPTION:   A flaw was found in popt, a command-line option parsing library. An off-by-one error in the poptStuffArgs function, when repeatedly called by a host application or through deep alias nesting, can lead to corruption of internal program data. This corruption could potentially enable a local attacker to execute arbitrary code if the host application then unsafely processes the altered data.
CWE:   CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write
CVSS Source:   secalert@redhat.com
CVSS Base score:   2.5
CVSS Vector:   (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)

CVEID:   CVE-2026-18839
DESCRIPTION:   An integer underflow was found in the popt library when formatting help text for option tables that exceed the terminal width. A local user who can cause an application to print help under those conditions may cause that application to crash or fail to display help, resulting in a denial of service of the affected application.
CWE:   CWE-191: Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)
CVSS Source:   secalert@redhat.com
CVSS Base score:   2.2
CVSS Vector:   (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)

Affected Products and Versions

Affected Product(s)Version(s)
AIX7.2
AIX7.3
VIOS4.1

 

The vulnerabilities in the following filesets are being addressed:
        
key_fileset = aix

FilesetLower LevelUpper LevelKEY 
rpm.rte4.15.1.10004.15.1.1020key_w_fs
rpm.rte4.15.1.20004.15.1.2016key_w_fs
rpm.rte4.18.1.20004.18.1.2009key_w_fs
rpm.rte4.20.1.20004.20.1.2002key_w_fs

 

Note:
A. Latest level of RPM fileset is available from the web download site:
https://www.ibm.com/resources/mrs/assets?source=aixbp

To find out whether the affected filesets are installed  on your systems, refer to the lslpp command found in AIX user's guide.

Example:  lslpp -L | grep -i rpm.rte

Remediation/Fixes

FIXES

IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now.

The AIX and VIOS fixes can be downloaded via https from:

https://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/security/rpm_fix5.tar

 

The link above is to a tar file containing this signed advisory, install packages, and OpenSSL signatures for each package. The fixes below include prerequisite checking. This will enforce the correct mapping between the fixes and AIX Technology Levels.

 

To extract the fixes from the tar file:

tar xvf rpm_fix5.tar

 

For AIX 7.2:

tar xvf rpm_fix5/rpm_41511021.tar

 

For AIX 7.3 TL1:

tar xvf rpm_fix5/rpm_41512017.tar

 

For AIX 7.3 TL2 and TL3 and VIOS 4.1.0 and 4.1.1:

tar xvf rpm_fix5/rpm_41812010.tar

 

For AIX 7.3 TL4 and VIOS 4.1.2:

tar xvf rpm_fix5/rpm_42012003.tar

 

AIX LevelFix
7.2.5rpm.rte.4.15.1.1021
7.3.1  rpm.rte.4.15.1.2017
7.3.2rpm.rte.4.18.1.2010
7.3.3rpm.rte.4.18.1.2010
7.3.4rpm.rte.4.20.1.2003

 

VIOS LevelFix
4.1.0rpm.rte.4.18.1.2010
4.1.1rpm.rte.4.18.1.2010
4.1.2rpm.rte.4.20.1.2003

 

IMPORTANT: If possible, it is recommended that a mksysb backup of the system be created.  Verify it is both bootable and readable before proceeding.

Note that all the previously reported security vulnerability fixes are also included in above mentioned fileset level.

 

To preview the fix installation:

installp -apYd . rpm

 

To install the fix package:

installp -aXYd . rpm

 

Verify you have retrieved the fixes intact:

 

The checksums below were generated using the following command:

"openssl dgst -sha256 [file]"

 

openssl dgst -sha256 filenameKEY
e4645b5fba55a22bc6a113671878a0ba5b4d74c77dd072d0f5e60f1e2c31260f rpm.rte.4.15.1.1021key_w_csum
b19519f49abdda456cfb4a4766522d93261117342e511a14d316a5d017bec18erpm.rte.4.15.1.2017key_w_csum
a5ac1fc79dfd4371afb43194231357449c3079830a4962c1f9c7692ad4c7aa74rpm.rte.4.18.1.2010key_w_csum
61e201e9033ad84d5bd1241e71a814343b7718e2594d5943a39e66b71401eb43rpm.rte.4.20.1.2003key_w_csum

 

The checksums below were generated using the following command:

"openssl dgst -sha512 [file]"

openssl dgst -sha512filenameKEY
3b168b72b64b9af1037aad45cfc1ada853c1c8f89b3b9265f7378b3d9aa93df6a730a95d9b882709ec40003aac5608f95970e7d08f7606d487fef1d3ec081ef4rpm.rte.4.15.1.1021key_4K_w_csum
4320ae522b73d7d9f06494e082e1472806ffcd8d5a6e8dacaf3590ffc343ee52a8b7a5991df47c525cfbd1bef0add1dfa2c8ddb4114c32bc7d1ddfc2c64a3b18rpm.rte.4.15.1.2017key_4K_w_csum
dcaa46b1508c0a4d9dc3ad30ff2e3c82f802ea27d89322dbbc552e0df9f5fd713ab3228fbb99c26e298c5211c8cb0ea9e69b70b9c2062dcc376b07e748edd0c0rpm.rte.4.18.1.2010 key_4K_w_csum
0f6675fcb57afcd7f04f83a5b600b9b34767c92e715ef7a81a39688baf63f8195e429e76c1a6ff8b563dd92d5f28b3a408fbc81182344b94c6d9927c39c0f84crpm.rte.4.20.1.2003 key_4K_w_csum

 

These sums should match exactly. The OpenSSL signatures in the tar file and on this advisory can also be used to verify the integrity of the fixes.  If the sums or signatures cannot be confirmed, contact IBM Support at

http://ibm.com/support/ and describe the discrepancy.

 

openssl dgst -sha256 -verify [pubkey_file] -signature [advisory_file].sig [advisory_file]

 

openssl dgst -sha256 -verify [pubkey_file] -signature [ifix_file].sig [ifix_file]

 

Published advisory OpenSSL signature file location:

https://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/security/rpm_advisory5.asc.sig

 

 

Workarounds and Mitigations

None

Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins

References

Off

Acknowledgement

Change History

12 Oct 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

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Document Information

Modified date:
12 October 2026

Initial Publish date:
12 October 2026

UID

ibm17292030