CVE-2016-6115 IBM CVE debrief

Who should care

IBM GPFS and Spectrum Scale administrators, especially teams running the vulnerable versions listed by NVD, should treat this as a priority because exploitation can lead to root-level impact on affected servers.

Technical summary

NVD maps this issue to CWE-119 and lists network attack vector with low attack complexity, but requires high privileges (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). The vulnerable CPEs include IBM General Parallel File System 4.1.0.0 through 4.1.0.8 and IBM Spectrum Scale 4.1.0.0, 4.1.1.0 through 4.1.1.10, 4.2.0.0 through 4.2.0.3, 4.2.1, and 4.2.2.0. IBM’s advisory and the NVD record are the primary sources for mitigation and version mapping.

Defensive priority

High. The issue is remotely reachable and can affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with potential root-level code execution if an attacker already has the required privileges.

Recommended defensive actions

• Check IBM GPFS / Spectrum Scale installations against the vulnerable versions listed in NVD.
• Apply IBM’s vendor guidance and any available patches from the IBM support advisory.
• Restrict and monitor privileged accounts that can access the affected management or service paths.
• Review logs for unexpected crashes or unusual privileged activity on GPFS/Spectrum Scale hosts.
• Use the NVD and IBM advisory to confirm whether your deployed release is in scope before prioritizing remediation.

Evidence notes

The NVD record describes a buffer overflow affecting IBM General Parallel File System and Spectrum Scale. It states that a remote authenticated attacker could overflow a buffer and execute arbitrary code with root privileges or crash the server. The CVSS vector supplied by NVD includes PR:H, confirming that elevated privileges are required. NVD also assigns CWE-119 and lists the affected IBM version ranges.

Official resources