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CVE-2026-17042

7.3 · HIGH

IBM Power Systems Firmware FW950.00 through FW950.H2, OP940.00 through OP940.a1 (Power9), and OP940.00 - OP940.81 (Power HMC) is affected by a vulnerability in host firmware NVRAM parsing.

Published Aug 19, 2026CWE-125EPSS 0.14%

Overview

CVE-2026-17042 is a high-severity vulnerability. It was published on August 19, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 (HIGH).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

Technical description

IBM Power Systems Firmware FW950.00 through FW950.H2, OP940.00 through OP940.a1 (Power9), and OP940.00 - OP940.81 (Power HMC) 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.

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-17042?

CVE-2026-17042 is a high-severity vulnerability. It was published on August 19, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-17042?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2026-17042?

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2026-17042?

CyberStrike is an open-source, AI-augmented pentesting engine. Rather than flag a version number, it tests whether an issue like CVE-2026-17042 is actually reachable in your own applications and APIs, then verifies each finding before reporting it. That tells you if the weakness is a real, exploitable risk in your environment or a false positive you can safely deprioritize.

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