Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-16673 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-16673 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-16673?
- High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 14 September 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- IBM DataStage 5.4.0.0.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-16673?
- No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
- How is CVE-2026-16673 attacked?
- It is attacked over the network.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-16673?
- Check whether you run IBM DataStage at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
Technical details
This vulnerability is an OS command injection (CWE-78) in the PxPeek operator of IBM DataStage. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of special characters in the PxPeek name property, allowing authenticated attackers to construct malicious payloads that break out of intended command context. The attack requires valid authentication credentials and network access to the DataStage service, with no additional user interaction required. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary operating system command execution with the privileges of the DataStage service process, potentially leading to full system compromise. Patches are expected from IBM as part of their security update process.
Affected products
- IBM DataStage 5.4.0.0
Timeline
- 2026-09-14: disclosed