Affects OpenBMC's IPMI stack used by major server vendors (e.g., NVIDIA, H3C). Enables BMC admin escalation and server takeover — high-impact for datacenter/server infrastructure.
CVE-2026-16140
IPMI auth-session swap allows BMC privilege escalation without re-authentication
Is CVE-2026-16140 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-16140 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked.
How severe is CVE-2026-16140?
CVE-2026-16140 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-16140?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-16140. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-16140 affect?
CVE-2026-16140 affects OpenBMC (phosphor-net-ipmid), NVIDIA BMCs, H3C BMCs, Other OpenBMC-based servers. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-16140?
Isolate BMC network, restrict IPMI access, rotate keys/creds, monitor logs; apply vendor patch when released.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Attackers can swap session auth to escalate to BMC admin, enabling remote server control, firmware access, and persistent takeover.
Immediate action required
- affected<= ba6efc502e6b1fabb8ed1ca677ae5eedd64b6361
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.