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CVE-2017-18078

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: January 29, 2018 at 05:00 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 01:12 AM UTC
3 products affected across 3 vendorsDebian LinuxLeapSystemd

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1%

Description

systemd-tmpfiles in systemd before 237 attempts to support ownership/permission changes on hardlinked files even if the fs.protected_hardlinks sysctl is turned off, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions via vectors involving a hard link to a file for which the user lacks write access, as demonstrated by changing the ownership of the /etc/passwd file.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Debian Linux· Debiandrupal
95%
8.0
Leap· openSUSEdrupal
95%
42.3
Systemd· Systemd Project
95%
v < 237
Affected range stops below 237, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

Patch and advisory references

References (9)

Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_SUSEMailing ListThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2018-02/msg00109.html
x_refsource_MISCExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
Source: [email protected]
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/146184/systemd-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
Mailing Listx_refsource_MLISTExploitThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/01/29/3
x_refsource_MISCExploitIssue TrackingThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/7736
Mailing Listx_refsource_MLIST
Source: [email protected]
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
Mailing Listx_refsource_MLIST
Source: [email protected]
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
Mailing Listx_refsource_MLISTThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/04/msg00022.html
Exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
Source: [email protected]
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43935/

CVSS

7.8HIGH[email protected]
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-59

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