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ViosApplication · Ibm

CVE-2023-28528

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-28
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

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
IBM AIX 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1 could allow a non-privileged local user to exploit a vulnerability in the invscout command to execute arbitrary commands. IBM X-Force ID: 251207.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-78

User input reaches a shell or system command without being fully separated from the command itself, so an attacker can append their own instructions. Because these run with the application's privileges, it often means full control of the host. The lasting fix is to avoid the shell entirely — call APIs directly and pass arguments as data, never as concatenated strings.

General guidance for the os command injection class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
ViosApplication
Affected:= 3.1
AixOperating system
Affected:= 7.1= 7.2= 7.3

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
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.ibm.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Apply IBM patch from support page (IJ43953) for AIX 7.1/7.2/7.3 and VIOS 3.1

  1. Check the current version of the invscout command: `invscout -V` or `lslpp -l invscout.rte`
  2. Visit the IBM support page at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6983232 to obtain the appropriate patch for your AIX or VIOS version
  3. Download the required patches (typically APARs for AIX like IJ43953)
  4. Apply the patch using standard AIX patch management tools such as `installp` or `emgr`
  5. Verify the fix was applied successfully: `invscout -V` and confirm the version shows the patched release
  6. Test that the invscout command executes without command injection vulnerability
Caveat Patches for AIX/VIOS typically do not introduce breaking changes; however, always test in a non-production environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can apply and verify the patch for your build — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the patch applied

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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-2023-28528 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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