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ViosApplication · Ibm

CVE-2023-45170

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 piobe command to escalate privileges or cause a denial of service. IBM X-Force ID: 267968.

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

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the piobe command on IBM AIX 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1. A non-privileged local attacker can exploit this flaw in the piobe utility to gain elevated privileges or cause a denial of service condition.

MitigationApply the appropriate IBM AIX/VIOS security patch for CVE-2023-45170. Refer to IBM's security bulletin for the specific PTF (Program Temporary Fix) for each affected version.

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 installed AIX or VIOS version
    Run 'oslevel -s' on the system and compare the output to the affected versions: AIX 7.2, AIX 7.3, or VIOS 3.1
    Affected if The system is running AIX 7.2, AIX 7.3, or VIOS 3.1
  2. Locate the piobe binary
    Run 'which piobe' or 'find /usr -name piobe -type f 2>/dev/null' to find the piobe executable
    Affected if The piobe command exists on the system and is executable by non-privileged users
  3. Check piobe file permissions
    Run 'ls -la /usr/lpp/pio.*/bin/piobe' or the full path found in the previous step to view owner, group, and permissions
    Affected if The file is owned by root but is world-executable or group-executable, allowing non-privileged access
  4. Verify non-privileged user access to piobe
    As a non-privileged user, run 'piobe -?' or 'piobe -h' to confirm the command can be invoked without elevation
    Affected if Non-privileged users can execute the piobe command directly

The system is vulnerable if it runs AIX 7.2, 7.3, or VIOS 3.1 and the piobe command is accessible to non-privileged local users.

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 IBM AIX/VIOS security patch for CVE-2023-45170. Refer to IBM's security bulletin for the specific PTF (Program Temporary Fix) for each affected version.

Fix this in Vios Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2023-45170 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data