CVE-2018-16888

NameCVE-2018-16888
DescriptionIt 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.
SourceCVE (at NVD; CERT, LWN, oss-sec, fulldisc, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, SUSE bugzilla/CVE, GitHub advisories/code/issues, web search, more)

Vulnerable and fixed packages

The table below lists information on source packages.

Source PackageReleaseVersionStatus
systemd (PTS)bullseye247.3-7+deb11u5fixed
bullseye (security)247.3-7+deb11u6fixed
bookworm252.31-1~deb12u1fixed
sid, trixie257~rc2-3fixed

The information below is based on the following data on fixed versions.

PackageTypeReleaseFixed VersionUrgencyOriginDebian Bugs
systemdsource(unstable)237-1low

Notes

[stretch] - systemd <ignored> (Minor issue, too intrusive to backport)
[jessie] - systemd <no-dsa> (low priority because this is inherently a bug in the PID file logic, too intrusive to backport)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1662867
Upstream issue: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/6632
Upstream patches: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/7816

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