# CVE-2026-16938: Power System Missing Authorization

> Authenticated administrators can disable system components via FSP, causing persistent denial of service requiring manual intervention.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 20 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v4hv-27x8-h9vq

## What is CVE-2026-16938?

CVE-2026-16938 is a medium-severity missing authorization 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 access controls over privileged system configuration operations on the FSP. An attacker with authenticated administrator-level access to the FSP can place the managed system into a non-production operational mode, allowing certain system components to be disabled. This condition persists across FSP resets and requires explicit operator intervention — clearing the affected configuration — to restore normal operation. Successful exploitation results in an availability impact to the managed system.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-16938?

It affects 9 products.


Products: 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, Ibm Power System S914 \(9009-41g\) Firmware, Ibm Power System S922 \(9009-22g\) Firmware, Ibm Power System S924 \(9009-42g\) Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-16938?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-16938 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-16938 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16938 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Power Systems Firmware

- [CVE-2026-16687](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16687/): Power System Buffer Overflow (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2026-16835](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16835/): Power System Improper Certificate Validation (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2026-16832](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16832/): Power System Buffer Overflow (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2026-18848](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18848/): Power System Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2026-16828](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16828/): Power System Out-of-bounds Read (high 7.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-16938 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-16938 is a medium-severity missing authorization 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16938 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Power Systems Firmware. 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-2026-16938/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16938/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16938
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16938
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-16938

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16938/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.