# CVE-2026-16140: OpenBMC IPMI Privilege Escalation via Retargeted RAKP 1

> Attackers can escalate privileges in OpenBMC IPMI sessions by replacing authorization context without re-authentication, affecting downstream vendors like NVIDIA and H3C.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m238-h73w-r4f2

## What is CVE-2026-16140?

CVE-2026-16140 is a high-severity vulnerability in OpenBMC phosphor-net-ipmid, published on 15 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenBMC's IPMI implementation, phosphor-net-ipmid, is vulnerable to a logic flaw where the authorization context of an existing session can be replaced with a target account while still maintaining the original integrity and encryption keys. Several downstream vendors implement phosphor-net-ipmid as their IPMI stack, such as NVIDIA and H3C. This issue effectively allows for privilege escalation without re-authentication.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-16140?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-16140?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-16140 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-16140 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16140 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-16140 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-16140 is a high-severity vulnerability in OpenBMC phosphor-net-ipmid, published on 15 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16140 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: OpenBMC phosphor-net-ipmid. 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-2026-16140/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16140/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16140
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16140
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-16140

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16140/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.