CVE-2026-16835 Power System Improper Certificate Validation

Critical 9.6 Published 19 Aug 2026 Updated 22 Aug 2026

An unauthenticated attacker on the management network can bypass authentication to perform administrative operations on IBM Power Systems, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2026-16835?

CVE-2026-16835 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in IBM Power Systems Firmware, published on 19 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

IBM Power Systems Firmware FW1120.00, FW1110.00 through FW1110.30, FW1060.00 through FW1060.80, and FW950.00 through FW950.H2 is affected by a vulnerability in the FSP management network protocol. An unauthenticated attacker on the management network can bypass authentication and perform any administrative operation on the managed system, including control of partition power state, configuration, and console access across all hosted partitions, resulting in a confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact to the managed system.

Weakness: CWE-295

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-16835?

It affects 9 products.

Products include Ibm Power System E1080 \(9080-Hex\) Firmware, Ibm Power System E1180 \(9080-Heu\) Firmware, Ibm Power System E950 \(9040-Mr9\) Firmware, Ibm Power System E980 \(9080-M9s\) Firmware, Ibm Power System H922 \(9223-22s\) Firmware, Ibm Power System H924 \(9223-42s\) Firmware and 3 more.

How do I fix CVE-2026-16835?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-16835 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.

Is CVE-2026-16835 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16835 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-2mjm-m8vh-843x.