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AixOperating system · Ibm

CVE-2005-0240

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-05-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Format string vulnerability in chdev on IBM AIX 5.2 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers in a command line argument, which is not properly handled when printing an error message.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A format string vulnerability exists in the chdev command on IBM AIX 5.2, where user-supplied format string specifiers in command line arguments are passed unsanitized to printf-style functions when printing error messages. This allows local attackers to read from and write to arbitrary memory locations on the stack, enabling privilege escalation to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the appropriate AIX security patch from IBM to address the format string vulnerability in chdev. As a compensating control, restrict access to the chdev command to trusted users only using AIX RBAC or traditional file permissions until the patch can be applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
AixOperating system
Affected:= 5.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify the AIX version is 5.2
    Run 'oslevel -r' or 'uname -a' to confirm the installed AIX version
    Affected if The system is running AIX version 5.2 specifically (not higher or lower)
  2. Confirm the chdev command exists
    Run 'which chdev' or 'ls -la /usr/sbin/chdev' to locate the chdev binary
    Affected if The chdev command is present on the system (required for this vulnerability)
  3. Check if chdev has setuid root permissions
    Run 'ls -la /usr/sbin/chdev' to inspect file permissions; look for 's' in the owner execute field
    Affected if chdev has setuid permissions (setuid bit is set), allowing privilege escalation when exploited
  4. Identify which users can execute chdev
    Run 'ls -la /usr/sbin/chdev' and check group/world permissions; use 'lsgroup all' to identify untrusted users
    Affected if Untrusted or non-privileged users have execute access to chdev

You are affected if the system runs AIX 5.2 AND the chdev command is accessible to untrusted users with setuid permissions, enabling the format string flaw to be exploited for privilege escalation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the appropriate AIX security patch from IBM to address the format string vulnerability in chdev. As a compensating control, restrict access to the chdev command to trusted users only using AIX RBAC or traditional file permissions until the patch can be applied.

Fix this in Aix Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,820
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-0240 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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