CVE-2018-15687
published 2018-10-26CVE-2018-15687: A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd…
PriorityP338high7CVSS 3.1
AVLACHPRLUINSUCHIHAH
EXPLOIT
EPSS
1.06%
60.5th percentile
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
Affected
18 ranges
| Vendor | Product | Version range | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | — | — |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | — | — |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | — | — |
| debian | systemd | < systemd 239-11 (bookworm) | systemd 239-11 (bookworm) |
| msrc | cbl_mariner_1.0_arm | — | — |
| msrc | cbl_mariner_1.0_x64 | — | — |
| msrc | cm1_systemd_239-31_on_cbl_mariner_1.0 | — | — |
| systemd | systemd | unspecified – 239 | — |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 239-11 | 239-11 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 239-11 | 239-11 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 239-11 | 239-11 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 239-11 | 239-11 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 229-4ubuntu21.9 | 229-4ubuntu21.9 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 229-4ubuntu21.10 | 229-4ubuntu21.10 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 229-4ubuntu21.8 | 229-4ubuntu21.8 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 237-3ubuntu10.9 | 237-3ubuntu10.9 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 0 < 237-3ubuntu10.6 | 237-3ubuntu10.6 |
| systemd_project | systemd | >= 235 < 240 | 240 |
CVSS provenance
nvdv3.17.0HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvdv3.07.8HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvdv2.06.9MEDIUMAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
osv7.8HIGH
vendor_ubuntu7.8HIGH
vendor_debian7.0HIGH
vendor_msrc7.0HIGH
vendor_redhat7.0HIGH
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Ubuntu
systemd regression
vendor_ubuntu·2018-11-27·CVSS 7.8
CVE-2018-6954 [HIGH] systemd regression
Title: systemd regression
Summary: USN-3816-1 caused a regression in systemd-tmpfiles.
USN-3816-1 fixed vulnerabilities in systemd. The fix for CVE-2018-6954
caused a regression in systemd-tmpfiles when running Ubuntu inside a
container on some older kernels. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04
LTS. In order to continue to support this configuration, the fixes for
CVE-2018-6954 have been reverted.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Original advisory details:
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages
above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via
NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root
privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacke
Ubuntu
systemd vulnerability
vendor_ubuntu·2018-11-19·CVSS 7.8
CVE-2018-6954 [HIGH] systemd vulnerability
Title: systemd vulnerability
Summary: systemd-tmpfiles could be made to change ownership of arbitrary files.
USN-3816-1 fixed several vulnerabilities in systemd. However, the fix for
CVE-2018-6954 was not sufficient. This update provides the remaining fixes.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Original advisory details:
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages
above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via
NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root
privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker
could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on certain
files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 18
Ubuntu
systemd vulnerabilities
vendor_ubuntu·2018-11-12·CVSS 7.8
CVE-2018-15686 [HIGH] systemd vulnerabilities
Title: systemd vulnerabilities
Summary: Several security issues were fixed in systemd.
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages
above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via
NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root
privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker
could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on certain
files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
and Ubuntu 18.10. (CVE-2018-15687)
It was discovered that systemd-tmpfiles mishandled symlinks in
non-terminal path components. A local attacker could potentially exploit
this by gaining ownership of certain files to obtain root
Red Hat
systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges
vendor_redhat·2018-10-26·CVSS 7.0
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CWE-367 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges
systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
Statement: This issue did not affect the versions of systemd as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 as the vulnerable code was introduced in a newer version of the package.
Package: systemd (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7) - Not affected
Package: systemd (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8) - Not affected
Package: systemd (Red Hat Virtualization 4) - Not affected
Microsoft
systemd: chown_one() can dereference symlinks
vendor_msrc·2018-10-09·CVSS 7.0
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CWE-362 systemd: chown_one() can dereference symlinks
systemd: chown_one() can dereference symlinks
FAQ: Is Azure Linux the only Microsoft product that includes this open-source library and is therefore potentially affected by this vulnerability?
One of the main benefits to our customers who choose to use the Azure Linux distro is the commitment to keep it up to date with the most recent and most secure versions of the open source libraries with which the distro is composed. Microsoft is committed to transparency in this work which is why we began publishing CSAF/VEX in October 2025. See this blog post for more information. If impact to additional products is identified, we will update the CVE to reflect this.
Mariner: Mariner
canonical: canonical
Customer Action Required: Yes
Remediation: CBL-Mariner Releases
Reference: https://learn.m
Debian
CVE-2018-15687: systemd - A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd t...
vendor_debian·2018·CVSS 7.0
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CVE-2018-15687: systemd - A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd t...
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
Scope: local
bookworm: resolved (fixed in 239-11)
bullseye: resolved (fixed in 239-11)
forky: resolved (fixed in 239-11)
sid: resolved (fixed in 239-11)
trixie: resolved (fixed in 239-11)
GHSA
GHSA-wxcv-623q-99fj: A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files
ghsa_unreviewed·2022-05-13
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CWE-362 GHSA-wxcv-623q-99fj: A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
OSV
systemd regression
osv·2018-11-27·CVSS 7.8
CVE-2018-6954 [HIGH] systemd regression
systemd regression
USN-3816-1 fixed vulnerabilities in systemd. The fix for CVE-2018-6954
caused a regression in systemd-tmpfiles when running Ubuntu inside a
container on some older kernels. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04
LTS. In order to continue to support this configuration, the fixes for
CVE-2018-6954 have been reverted.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Original advisory details:
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages
above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via
NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root
privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker
could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on
OSV
systemd vulnerability
osv·2018-11-19·CVSS 7.8
CVE-2018-6954 [HIGH] systemd vulnerability
systemd vulnerability
USN-3816-1 fixed several vulnerabilities in systemd. However, the fix for
CVE-2018-6954 was not sufficient. This update provides the remaining fixes.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Original advisory details:
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages
above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via
NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root
privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker
could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on certain
files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
and Ubuntu 18.10. (CVE-2018-15687)
It was discovered that systemd-tmpfiles mish
OSV
systemd vulnerabilities
osv·2018-11-12·CVSS 7.8
CVE-2018-15686 [HIGH] systemd vulnerabilities
systemd vulnerabilities
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages
above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via
NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root
privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker
could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on certain
files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
and Ubuntu 18.10. (CVE-2018-15687)
It was discovered that systemd-tmpfiles mishandled symlinks in
non-terminal path components. A local attacker could potentially exploit
this by gaining ownership of certain files to obtain root privileges. This
issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu
OSV
CVE-2018-15687: A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files
osv·2018-10-26·CVSS 7.0
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CVE-2018-15687: A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
No detection rules found.
Bugzilla
CVE-2018-15687 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges [fedora-all]
bugzilla·2018-10-26·CVSS 7.0
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CVE-2018-15687 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges [fedora-all]
CVE-2018-15687 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges [fedora-all]
This is an automatically created tracking bug! It was created to ensure
that one or more security vulnerabilities are fixed in affected versions
of fedora-all.
For comments that are specific to the vulnerability please use bugs filed
against the "Security Response" product referenced in the "Blocks" field.
For more information see:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Security/TrackingBugs
When submitting as an update, use the fedpkg template provided in the next
comment(s). This will include the bug IDs of this tracking bug as well as
the relevant top-level CVE bugs.
Please also mention the CVE IDs being fixed in the RPM changelog and the
fedpkg commit mes
Bugzilla
CVE-2018-15687 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges
bugzilla·2018-10-15·CVSS 7.0
CVE-2018-15687 [HIGH] CVE-2018-15687 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges
CVE-2018-15687 systemd: Dereference of symlinks in chown_recursive.c:chown_one() allows for modification of file privileges
systemd is vulnerable to improper dereference of symlinks in the core/chown_recursive.c:chown_one() function. An attacker with local access can exploit this via services with certain configurations to modify the file permissions of arbitrary files.
Discussion:
When using systemd's features CacheDirectory, LogsDirectory or StateDirectory together with the DynamicUser feature, systemd needs to recursively change ownership of those directories. While doing this, when the file is not a link the file mode is re-set to be sure the kernel doesn't change it (which could happen with SUID/SGID files), but an attacker may be able to bypass the link check and change the mode o
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105748https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/10517/commitshttps://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201810-10https://usn.ubuntu.com/3816-1/https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45715/http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105748https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/10517/commitshttps://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201810-10https://usn.ubuntu.com/3816-1/https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45715/
2018-10-26
Published