Severity
4.7MEDIUM
EPSS
0.2%
top 63.34%
CISA KEV
Not in KEV
Exploit
No known exploits
Timeline
PublishedJan 14
Latest updateMay 13

Description

It was discovered systemd does not correctly check the content of PIDFile files before using it to kill processes. When a service is run from an unprivileged user (e.g. User field set in the service file), a local attacker who is able to write to the PIDFile of the mentioned service may use this flaw to trick systemd into killing other services and/or privileged processes. Versions before v237 are vulnerable.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitability: 1.0 | Impact: 3.6

Affected Packages4 packages

Debiansystemd< 237-1+3
Ubuntusystemd< 229-4ubuntu21.27+1

Also affects: Ubuntu Linux 16.04, 18.04, 19.10, Enterprise Linux 7.0

Patches

🔴Vulnerability Details

4
GHSA
GHSA-34mm-3fgq-qjxq: It was discovered systemd does not correctly check the content of PIDFile files before using it to kill processes2022-05-13
OSV
systemd vulnerabilities2020-02-05
CVEList
CVE-2018-16888: It was discovered systemd does not correctly check the content of PIDFile files before using it to kill processes2019-01-14
OSV
CVE-2018-16888: It was discovered systemd does not correctly check the content of PIDFile files before using it to kill processes2019-01-14

📋Vendor Advisories

4
Ubuntu
systemd vulnerabilities2020-02-05
Red Hat
mongodb: Incorrect scoping in shipped sysV scripts allows arbitrary PID insertion to kill2019-08-30
Debian
CVE-2018-16888: systemd - It was discovered systemd does not correctly check the content of PIDFile files ...2018
Red Hat
systemd: kills privileged process if unprivileged PIDFile was tampered2017-08-17

💬Community

1
Bugzilla
CVE-2018-16888 systemd: kills privileged process if unprivileged PIDFile was tampered2019-01-02