dbcve.org
ViosApplication · Ibm

CVE-2023-45166

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 AIX 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1 could allow a non-privileged local user to exploit a vulnerability in the piodmgrsu command to obtain elevated privileges. IBM X-Force ID: 267964.

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 local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the piodmgrsu command on IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1. The flaw allows an unprivileged local attacker to gain elevated (root) privileges by exploiting the piodmgrsu utility.

MitigationApply the IBM security patch for CVE-2023-45166 to affected AIX 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1 systems. Restrict access to the piodmgrsu command until patches are 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
ViosApplication
Affected:= 3.1
AixOperating system
Affected:= 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

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. Check the AIX or VIOS version
    Run 'oslevel -s' on the system to identify the exact version
    Affected if The version is 7.2.x, 7.3.x, or 3.1.x (matches the affected versions listed)
  2. Locate the piodmgrsu binary
    Run 'which piodmgrsu' or 'find /usr -name piodmgrsu 2>/dev/null'
    Affected if The piodmgrsu command exists on the system
  3. Verify piodmgrsu permissions
    Run 'ls -la /usr/bin/piodmgrsu' or the full path returned from the previous step
    Affected if The file is owned by root and has setuid bit set, or is executable by regular users
  4. Confirm unprivileged user access
    As a non-root user, run 'ls -la /usr/bin/piodmgrsu' to verify read and execute permissions for others or the user group
    Affected if Non-root users have execute permission on the piodmgrsu binary

The system is affected if it runs AIX 7.2.x, 7.3.x, or VIOS 3.1.x AND the piodmgrsu command is present and accessible to unprivileged users, allowing potential local privilege escalation to root.

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 IBM security patch for CVE-2023-45166 to affected AIX 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1 systems. Restrict access to the piodmgrsu command until patches are applied.

Fix this in Vios Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-45166 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-45166 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data