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Improper Privilege Management

CVE-2018-16888

Medium
4.7/10

Summary

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.

  • HIGH
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • LOW
  • NONE
  • HIGH

CWE-269 - Improper Privilege Management

An effective privilege management infrastructure provides valid users with required access and privileges across heterogeneous technology environments. An application with a faulty privilege management infrastructure allows higher than authorized privileges or enables privilege escalation. This can lead to security incidents such as system infiltration, data breach, and complete system takeover.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published