CVE-2023-45168
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 · uneditedIBM AIX 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: 267966.
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 confidenceThe invscout command in IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1 contains a vulnerability allowing non-privileged local users to execute arbitrary commands, likely through improper input validation or privilege escalation in the command's execution flow. This represents a local privilege escalation vector with high impact on system integrity.
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= 3.1= 7.2= 7.3CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify invscout command existsRun 'which invscout' or 'ls -la /usr/bin/invscout' to locate the invscout binary on the systemAffected if The invscout command is present on the system (this is required for the vulnerability to apply)
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Check installed AIX or VIOS versionRun 'oslevel -s' on AIX or 'ioslevel' on VIOS to determine the exact version and TL/SP levelAffected if The system runs AIX 7.2, AIX 7.3, or VIOS 3.1 (any version within these releases)
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Verify invscout permissions and ownershipRun 'ls -la /usr/bin/invscout' or check with 'stat invscout' to see ownership (should be root) and permissions (should not be world-executable)Affected if invscout is owned by root but is world-executable or setuid, allowing non-privileged users to trigger the flaw
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Test if non-privileged users can execute invscoutAs a non-root user, attempt to run 'invscout' and observe whether the command executes or prompts for elevated privilegesAffected if Non-privileged users can run invscout without error or can manipulate its execution flow
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Check for security patches addressing this CVERun 'instfix -i -k IV90165' for AIX or check VIOS patch inventory via 'patchman' or 'emgr -l' to see if CVE-2023-45168 fixes are appliedAffected if No IBM security patch for CVE-2023-45168 is installed on the affected AIX/VIOS version
A system is affected if it runs AIX 7.2/7.3 or VIOS 3.1, has the invscout command present, and is missing the IBM security patch for this CVE - particularly if invscout is accessible to non-privileged users.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply IBM security patches for AIX and VIOS addressing CVE-2023-45168. As an interim control, restrict or disable the invscout command for non-privileged users until patches can be deployed.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-45168 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-45168 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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