USN-3816-3
systemd regression
USN-3816-1 fixed vulnerabilities in systemd. The fix for CVE-2018-6954 caused a regression in systemd-tmpfiles when running Ubuntu inside a container on some older kernels. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. In order to continue to support this configuration, the fixes for CVE-2018-6954 have been reverted.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Original advisory details:
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on certain files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 18.10. (CVE-2018-15687)
It was discovered that systemd-tmpfiles mishandled symlinks in non-terminal path components. A local attacker could potentially exploit this by gaining ownership of certain files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. (CVE-2018-6954)
What each source reports
OSV No score
systemd regression
USN-3816-1 fixed vulnerabilities in systemd. The fix for CVE-2018-6954 caused a regression in systemd-tmpfiles when running Ubuntu inside a container on some older kernels. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. In order to continue to support this configuration, the fixes for CVE-2018-6954 have been reverted.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Original advisory details:
Jann Horn discovered that unit_deserialize incorrectly handled status messages above a certain length. A local attacker could potentially exploit this via NotifyAccess to inject arbitrary state across re-execution and obtain root privileges. (CVE-2018-15686)
Jann Horn discovered a race condition in chown_one(). A local attacker could potentially exploit this by setting arbitrary permissions on certain files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 18.10. (CVE-2018-15687)
It was discovered that systemd-tmpfiles mishandled symlinks in non-terminal path components. A local attacker could potentially exploit this by gaining ownership of certain files to obtain root privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. (CVE-2018-6954)
- Record
USN-3816-3- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
systemdUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
before 229-4ubuntu21.10, plus listed versions 225-1ubuntu9227-2ubuntu1227-2ubuntu2228-1ubuntu2228-2ubuntu1 Show 36 moreShow less228-2ubuntu2228-3ubuntu1228-4ubuntu1228-4ubuntu2228-5ubuntu1228-5ubuntu2228-5ubuntu3228-6ubuntu1229-1ubuntu2229-1ubuntu4229-2ubuntu1229-3ubuntu1229-3ubuntu2229-4ubuntu1229-4ubuntu4229-4ubuntu5229-4ubuntu6229-4ubuntu7229-4ubuntu8229-4ubuntu10229-4ubuntu11229-4ubuntu12229-4ubuntu13229-4ubuntu16229-4ubuntu17229-4ubuntu19229-4ubuntu20229-4ubuntu21229-4ubuntu21.1229-4ubuntu21.2229-4ubuntu21.3229-4ubuntu21.4229-4ubuntu21.5229-4ubuntu21.6229-4ubuntu21.8229-4ubuntu21.9 |
229-4ubuntu21.10 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
USN-3816-3 is a vulnerability with no CVSS score yet in systemd, published November 27, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. Fixed in systemd 229-4ubuntu21.10.