Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-18840 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-18840 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-18840?
- High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.2, published 20 August 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- IBM Aix 7.2, 7.3; IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-18840?
- 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-2026-18840 attacked?
- It is attacked with local access, in an operating system.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-18840?
- Check whether you run IBM Aix or IBM PowerVM VIOS 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 stems from improper validation of an attacker-controlled pointer in IBM AIX and PowerVM VIOS, allowing a local attacker to execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability requires local access to the system. By supplying a malformed pointer, an attacker can trigger memory corruption that leads to code execution at the privilege level of the vulnerable process. Patches are expected through IBM service updates and fix packs.
Affected products
- IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3
- IBM PowerVM VIOS 4.1
Timeline
- 2026-08-20: disclosed