Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2012-2188

IBM Power Hardware Management Console (HMC) 7R3.5.0 before SP4, 7R7.1.0 and 7R7.2.0 before 7R7.2.0 SP3, and 7R7.3.0 before SP2, and Systems Director Management Console (SDMC) 6R7.3.0 before SP2, does not properly restrict the VIOS viosrvcmd command, which allows local users to gain privileges via vectors involving a (1) $ (dollar sign) or (2) & (ampersand) character.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2012-2188 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 2 products from ibm, from ibm organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2012, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2012-08-06T16:55:03.260

Last Modified

2026-06-16T23:41:09.190

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 7.2 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-264

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	ibm	power_hardware_management_console_firmware	7r3.5.0	Yes
Operating System	ibm	power_hardware_management_console_firmware	7r7.1.0	Yes
Operating System	ibm	power_hardware_management_console_firmware	7r7.2.0	Yes
Operating System	ibm	power_hardware_management_console_firmware	7r7.3.0	Yes
Operating System	ibm	systems_director_management__console_firmware	6r7.3.0	Yes

References

http://www.ibm.com/connections/blogs/PSIRT/entry/security_bulletin_power_hmc_viosrvcmd_command_allows_elevated_privilege_on_vios_cve_2012_218825 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03548 ([email protected])
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03550 ([email protected])
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03554 ([email protected])
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03580 ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/75906 ([email protected])
http://www.ibm.com/connections/blogs/PSIRT/entry/security_bulletin_power_hmc_viosrvcmd_command_allows_elevated_privilege_on_vios_cve_2012_218825 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03548 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03550 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03554 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg1MB03580 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/75906 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For ibm's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.