PT-2018-2289 · Systemd+5 · Systemd-Journald+6

Matthias Kaiser · Published 2018-11-27 · Updated 2025-06-27 · CVE-2018-16865

Positive Technologies (AI Summary)

CVSS v2.0

7.6

High

Base vector

AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions systemd-journald versions through v240 systemd-journal-remote versions through v240

Description The issue is caused by an unbounded memory allocation in the systemd-journald and systemd-journal-remote binary system, which can lead to a stack clash with another memory region. This can be exploited by a local or remote attacker to crash systemd-journald or execute code with journald privileges.

Recommendations For versions through v240, consider disabling the systemd-journald service until a patch is available to prevent potential exploitation. Restrict access to the systemd-journal-remote service to minimize the risk of remote exploitation. Avoid sending a large number of entries to the journal socket to prevent crashing systemd-journald. At the moment, there is no information about a newer version that contains a fix for this vulnerability.

Exploit

Allocation of Resources Without Limits

Buffer Overflow

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-770

CWE-119

Related Identifiers

ALT-PU-2019-1023

ALT-PU-2019-1260

BDU:2019-00412

BDU:2019-00413

BDU:2019-01751

CESA-2019_0049

CVE-2018-16865

DLA-1639-1

DSA-4367-1

DSA-4367-2

OPENSUSE-SU-2019:0098-1

OPENSUSE-SU-2019_0097-1

OPENSUSE-SU-2019_0098-1

OPENSUSE-SU-2024:11420-1

RHSA-2019:0049

RHSA-2019:0204

RHSA-2019:0271

RHSA-2019:0342

RHSA-2019:0361

RHSA-2019:2402

RHSA-2019_0049

SUSE-SU-2019:0053-1

SUSE-SU-2019:0054-1

SUSE-SU-2019:0054-2

SUSE-SU-2019:0135-1

SUSE-SU-2019:0137-1

USN-3855-1

Affected Products

Alt Linux

Centos

Red Hat

Suse

Ubuntu

Systemd-Journal-Remote

Systemd-Journald

References · 137

• 🔥 https://qualys.com/2019/01/09/system-down/system-down.txt · Exploit
• https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16866 · Vendor Advisory
• https://bdu.fstec.ru/vul/2019-02469 · Security Note
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0342 · Vendor Advisory
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16864#VulnChangeHistorySection · Security Note
• https://osv.dev/vulnerability/USN-3855-1 · Vendor Advisory
• https://osv.dev/vulnerability/openSUSE-SU-2024:11420-1 · Vendor Advisory
• https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DSA-4367-1 · Vendor Advisory
• https://bdu.fstec.ru/vul/2019-00413 · Security Note
• http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2018-16865 · Security Note
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0361 · Vendor Advisory
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16865 · Patch
• https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DLA-1639-1 · Vendor Advisory
• https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/DLA-1639-1 · Vendor Advisory
• https://oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuapr2019-5072813.html · Patch