# CVE-2016-6115: Memory corruption in Spectrum Scale

> A remote authenticated attacker can exploit a buffer overflow in IBM Spectrum Scale to execute arbitrary code with root privileges or crash the server.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Feb 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jr3g-j96x-665p

## What is CVE-2016-6115?

CVE-2016-6115 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Ibm Spectrum Scale, published on 1 Feb 2017. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM General Parallel File System is vulnerable to a buffer overflow. A remote authenticated attacker could overflow a buffer and execute arbitrary code on the system with root privileges or cause the server to crash.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-6115?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Ibm General Parallel File System, Ibm Spectrum Scale.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-6115?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-6115 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-6115 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6115 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Spectrum Scale

- [CVE-2015-0198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0198/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2018-1431](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1431/): Privilege escalation in Spectrum Scale (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2015-4974](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-4974/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2015-0197](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0197/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2016-2984](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2984/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-6115 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-6115 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Ibm Spectrum Scale, published on 1 Feb 2017. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6115 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Spectrum Scale. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6115/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6115/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6115
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6115
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-6115

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6115/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.