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systemd — security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVAdvisory ID: DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686

A vulnerability in unit_deserialize of systemd allows an attacker to supply arbitrary state across systemd re-execution via NotifyAccess. This can be used to improperly influence systemd execution and possibly lead to root privilege escalation. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.

Products
systemd
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
239-12
CVEs
CVE-2018-15686
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
1 Nov 2026, 01:31 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686

core-osv · Original source

Published 26 Oct 2018, 14:29 UTC

A vulnerability in unit_deserialize of systemd allows an attacker to supply arbitrary state across systemd re-execution via NotifyAccess. This can be used to improperly influence systemd execution and possibly lead to root privilege escalation. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.

osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686

systemd

Fixed versions: 239-12

systemd

Fixed versions: 239-12

systemd

Fixed versions: 239-12

Complete source record
{
  "id": "b1d28dfaf365463a7fc10e8673dfb69e43fe55f6f96d9a0b06fe965635fbdc2d",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686",
    "summary": "A vulnerability in unit_deserialize of systemd allows an attacker to supply arbitrary state across systemd re-execution via NotifyAccess. This can be used to improperly influence systemd execution and possibly lead to root privilege escalation. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.",
    "evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "systemd",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "239-12",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "systemd",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "239-12",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "systemd",
          "evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "239-12",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686",
      "aliases": [
        "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "239-12"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "systemd",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/systemd?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:12"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "239-12"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "systemd",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/systemd?arch=source&distro=trixie",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:13"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "239-12"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "systemd",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/systemd?arch=source&distro=forky",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:14"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-15686.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-23T18:04:46.727437401Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "upstream": [
        "CVE-2018-15686"
      ],
      "references": [
        "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-15686"
      ]
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2018-15686",
        "evidence": "/upstream"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 423702,
  "published_at": "2018-10-26T14:29:00.613+00:00"
}