CVE-2018-1992 Memory corruption in Power 9 Systems
A buffer overflow in the IBM Power 9 bootloader allows attackers to bypass secure boot and execute arbitrary code by replacing the boot firmware image.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2018-1992?
CVE-2018-1992 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in IBM Power 9 Systems, published on 21 Mar 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The IBM Power 9 OP910, OP920, and FW910 boot firmware's bootloader is responsible for loading and validating the initial boot firmware image that drives the rest of the system's hardware initialization. The bootloader firmware contains a buffer overflow vulnerability such that, if an attacker were able to replace the initial boot firmware image with a very carefully crafted and sufficiently large, malicious replacement, it could cause the bootloader, during the load of that image, to overwrite its own instruction memory and circumvent secure boot protections, install trojans, etc. IBM X-Force ID: 154345.
Weakness: CWE-119
Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-1992?
It affects 11 products.
Products include Ibm Power System Ac922 \(8335-Gtg\) Firmware, Ibm Power System Ac922 \(8335-Gth\) Firmware, Ibm Power System Ac922 \(8335-Gtx\) Firmware, Ibm Power System H922 \(9223-22h\) Firmware, Ibm Power System H924 \(9223-42h\) Firmware, Ibm Power System L922 \(9008-22l\) Firmware and 5 more.
How do I fix CVE-2018-1992?
No fix has been published for CVE-2018-1992 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2018-1992 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1992 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in IBM Power 9 Systems
Sources
Also known as GHSA-phhh-x2xq-mff8.