Systemd
CVE-2018-15686
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Safe deserialization, type allowlists
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A local attacker with access to the system could execute arbitrary code through malicious serialized objects. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
A vulnerability in unit_deserialize of systemd allows an attacker to supply arbitrary state across systemd re-execution via NotifyAccess. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Avoid deserializing untrusted data. Use safe serialization formats (JSON). Implement integrity checks and type allowlists.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary code through malicious serialized objects. A vulnerability in unit_deserialize of systemd allows an attacker to supply arbitrary state across systemd re-execution via NotifyAccess. This can be used to improperly influence systemd execution and possibly lead to root privilege escalation. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239. Affected products include: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Systemd Project Systemd, Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Function Cloud Native Environment.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
A vulnerability in unit_deserialize of systemd allows an attacker to supply arbitrary state across systemd re-execution via NotifyAccess. This can be used to improperly influence systemd execution and possibly lead to root privilege escalation. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
Insecure deserialization occurs when an application converts serialized data (a stream of bytes representing an object's state) back into a living object without proper validation.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
Stack-based buffer overflow in the getpwnam and getgrnam functions of the NSS module nss-mymachines in systemd. Rated cr
Integer overflow in the valid_user_field function in journal/journald-native.c in systemd allows remote attackers to cau
systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible su
A flaw in systemd v228 in /src/basic/fs-util.c caused world writable suid files to be created when using the systemd tim
It was discovered that a systemd service that uses DynamicUser property can get new privileges through the execution of
It was discovered that a systemd service that uses DynamicUser property can create a SUID/SGID binary that would be allo
systemd-tmpfiles in systemd through 237 mishandles symlinks present in non-terminal path components, which allows local
basic/unit-name.c in systemd prior to 246.15, 247.8, 248.5, and 249.1 has a Memory Allocation with an Excessive Size Val
In systemd before v242-rc4, it was discovered that pam_systemd does not properly sanitize the environment before using t
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary
systemd v233 and earlier fails to safely parse usernames starting with a numeric digit (e.g. Rated critical severity (CV
A use-after-free vulnerability was found in systemd. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely