dbcve.org
Powervm HypervisorOperating system · Ibm

CVE-2023-30440

HIGH · 7.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
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
IBM PowerVM Hypervisor FW860.00 through FW860.B3, FW950.00 through FW950.70, FW1010.00 through FW1010.50, FW1020.00 through FW1020.30, and FW1030.00 through FW1030.10 could allow a local attacker with control a partition that has been assigned SRIOV virtual function (VF) to cause a denial of service to a peer partition or arbitrary data corruption. IBM X-Force ID: 253175.

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 · moderate confidence

IBM PowerVM Hypervisor contains a vulnerability in SRIOV virtual function handling where a local attacker controlling a partition with an assigned SRIOV VF can bypass partition isolation and cause denial of service to peer partitions or induce arbitrary data corruption. This represents a hypervisor isolation failure allowing a compromised partition to impact other partitions on the same physical system.

MitigationApply the appropriate PowerVM Hypervisor firmware update from IBM that addresses this vulnerability (versions beyond the affected ranges listed). For systems where immediate patching is not feasible, consider isolating affected partitions to less trusted environments or limiting SRIOV VF assignments to trusted partitions only.

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
Powervm HypervisorOperating system
Affected:>= fw860, <= fw860.b3>= fw950, <= fw950.70>= fw1010, <= fw1010.50>= fw1020.00, <= fw1020.30>= fw1030.00, <= fw1030.10

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
High

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

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. Identify PowerVM Hypervisor firmware version
    Use the HMC command 'lssyscfg -r sys -F 'sys_name,firmware_version'' or via IVM 'lslic -c vl' to retrieve the current hypervisor firmware level
    Affected if The installed firmware version falls within any of these ranges: fw860 through fw860.b3, fw950 through fw950.70, fw1010 through fw1010.50, fw1020.00 through fw1020.30, or fw1030.00 through fw1030.10
  2. Verify SRIOV capability is configured
    On the HMC, use 'lshwres -r sriov --rsubtype virtual-func -m system_name --level sys' to list SRIOV virtual functions at system level, or via IVM check the SRIOV adapter configuration
    Affected if SRIOV adapters and virtual functions are configured on the system (the vulnerability only applies when SRIOV VF assignment exists)
  3. Identify partitions with assigned SRIOV VFs
    Run 'lshwres -r sriov --rsubtype virtual-func -m system_name --level lpar' to list all partitions and their SRIOV virtual function assignments
    Affected if Any partition has one or more SRIOV virtual functions assigned, creating the attack vector described in the CVE

A system is affected if it runs a PowerVM Hypervisor firmware version within the listed ranges AND has SRIOV virtual functions assigned to any partition, as the vulnerability requires both conditions to be exploitable.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the appropriate PowerVM Hypervisor firmware update from IBM that addresses this vulnerability (versions beyond the affected ranges listed). For systems where immediate patching is not feasible, consider isolating affected partitions to less trusted environments or limiting SRIOV VF assignments to trusted partitions only.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

fw860.c0, fw950.80, fw1010.60, fw1020.40, or the latest fw1030 series (fw1030.20 or higher) depending on your hardware generation

  1. 1. Identify the current PowerVM hypervisor firmware version by running 'lsvios -np' or checking the HMC interface under System Management > Servers > [System] > System Properties > Firmware.
  2. 2. Based on the current firmware level, determine the minimum fixed firmware version needed: fw860.c0 or later for the 860 series, fw950.80 or later for the 950 series, fw1010.60 or later for the 1010 series, fw1020.40 or later for the 1020 series.
  3. 3. Download the appropriate firmware update from IBM Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/) by searching for PowerVM and your specific system firmware level.
  4. 4. Schedule a maintenance window as firmware updates require system downtime.
  5. 5. If using HMC, use the HMC GUI (Systems > Hardware Management > [System] > Tasks > Serviceability > Firmware Update) or command line 'updfw' to apply the new firmware.
  6. 6. For SEA (Shared Ethernet Adapter) or SRIOV configurations, ensure proper migration planning as these virtual functions may be affected during the update.
  7. 7. After firmware update, verify the new firmware level matches the target fixed version.
Caveat Firmware updates require downtime; ensure partition workloads are properly shut down or migrated. Test firmware compatibility with your specific Power Systems hardware model before production deployment.

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

Fix this in Powervm Hypervisor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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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-2023-30440 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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