HighFix available
systemd — security advisory
An allocation of memory without limits, that could result in the stack clashing with another memory region, was discovered in systemd-journald when a program with long command line arguments calls syslog. A local attacker may use this flaw to crash systemd-journald or escalate his privileges. Versions through v240 are vulnerable.
- Products
- systemd
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 240-4
- CVEs
- CVE-2018-16864
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 00:08 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
An allocation of memory without limits, that could result in the stack clashing with another memory region, was discovered in systemd-journald when a program with long command line arguments calls syslog. A local attacker may use this flaw to crash systemd-journald or escalate his privileges. Versions through v240 are vulnerable.
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16864
systemd
Fixed versions: 240-4
systemd
Fixed versions: 240-4
systemd
Fixed versions: 240-4
Complete source record
{
"id": "a4836083379df3b6c0b2a55177ec035dd9c7018132ff834879982408a2e0b8eb",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16864",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16864",
"summary": "An allocation of memory without limits, that could result in the stack clashing with another memory region, was discovered in systemd-journald when a program with long command line arguments calls syslog. A local attacker may use this flaw to crash systemd-journald or escalate his privileges. Versions through v240 are vulnerable.",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16864",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "systemd",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "240-4",
"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "systemd",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "240-4",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "systemd",
"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "240-4",
"evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "high",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16864",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16864"
],
"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": "240-4"
}
]
}
],
"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-2018-16864.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "240-4"
}
]
}
],
"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-2018-16864.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "240-4"
}
]
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],
"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-2018-16864.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-23T18:03:01.370389276Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2018-16864"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-16864"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2018-16864",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 420143,
"published_at": "2019-01-11T20:29:00.277+00:00"
}