7.8

CVE-2026-16989: ibm aix Link Following

CVSS: 7.8v3.1HighAnalyzed
Published 20-08-2026Last modified 22-08-2026
Open JSON

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-16989 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Link Following vulnerability in ibm aix. EPSS estimates a 0.13% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 2.3% of scored vulnerabilities.

Overall risk
31/100
0100
Medium · default modelHow is this calculated?
CVSS score
7.8/10
010
High · v3.1 (NVD)
EPSS score
0.13%
0%100%
Low · 0.00 pp in 30 days
KEVNot listedIn no KEV catalog
RansomwareNone recordedNo known use recorded
Public exploits0No public exploits recorded

Timeline

  1. 20-08-2026
    PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
  2. 22-08-2026
    Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

IBM AIX 7.2, and 7.3 and IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1 could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges due to improper resolution of symbolic links.

CVSS metrics

2 scores · 2 sources · 1 version

EPSS trend

Probability

0.13%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days

Percentile

2%

Versus all other CVEs

30-day change

0.00 pp

From 0.13% on 20-09-2026

20-09-202620-10-2026
EPSS score
0.13%

Known exploited

Compare KEV catalogs

Not in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.

Public exploits

0 found

No public exploits indexed.

Weaknesses

CWE · root cause

Affected systems

Ibm3 products
  • aix7.2 | 7.3 | ≥ 7.2.5, ≤ 7.2.5.212 | ≥ 7.3.2, ≤ 7.3.2.5 | ≥ 7.3.3, ≤ 7.3.3.2 | ≥ 7.3.4, ≤ 7.3.4.1
  • powervm vios4.1
  • vios≥ 4.1.0, < 4.1.0.50 | ≥ 4.1.1.0, < 4.1.1.30 | ≥ 4.1.2.0, < 4.1.2.20

1 vendor · 3 products

References

1 links