IBM i 7.6-7.3 TOCTOU File Access Race (CVE-2026-16896)
CVE-2026-16896 Published on August 13, 2026
IBM i is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities in Network Authentication Service
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a local authenticated attacker to obtain unauthorized access to files due to a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-16896 is exploitable with local system access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality and integrity, and no impact on availability.
Weakness Type
What is a TOCTTOU Vulnerability?
The software checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check. This can cause the software to perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state. This weakness can be security-relevant when an attacker can influence the state of the resource between check and use. This can happen with shared resources such as files, memory, or even variables in multithreaded programs.
CVE-2026-16896 has been classified to as a TOCTTOU vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-16896
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Affected Versions
IBM i:- Version 7.6 is affected.
- Version 7.5 is affected.
- Version 7.4 is affected.
- Version 7.3 is affected.