# CVE-2026-9171: Vulnerabilities in IBM WebSphere Application affects IBM PowerVM Novalink.

> A remote attacker can cause a denial of service by sending a specially-crafted request that consumes memory resources in IBM WebSphere Application Server.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 30 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x8q4-qwvw-778r

## What is CVE-2026-9171?

CVE-2026-9171 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in IBM PowerVM Novalink, published on 17 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Application Server Liberty are vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by sending a specially-crafted request. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause the server to consume memory resources.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-9171?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Powervm Novalink.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-9171?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-9171 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-9171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-9171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM PowerVM Novalink

- [CVE-2026-14971](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14971/): This PowerVM Novalink update is being released to address (low 3.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-9171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-9171 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in IBM PowerVM Novalink, published on 17 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-9171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM PowerVM Novalink. 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-2026-9171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-9171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-9171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-9171

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.