CVE-2018-16888

MEDIUM

systemd <v237 - Privilege Escalation

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

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.

Scores

CVSS v3 4.7
EPSS 0.0016
EPSS Percentile 36.3%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-269 CWE-250
Status published
Products (7)
canonical/ubuntu_linux 16.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 18.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 19.10
netapp/active_iq_performance_analytics_services
netapp/element_software
redhat/enterprise_linux 7.0
systemd_project/systemd < 237
Published Jan 14, 2019
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026