CVE-2018-16888
systemd: kills privileged process if unprivileged PIDFile was tampered
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · August 17, 2017
Updated · November 22, 2025
Description
It was discovered systemd does not correctly check the content of PIDFile files before using it to kill processes. When a service is run from an unprivileged user (e.g. User field set in the service file), a local attacker who is able to write to the PIDFile of the mentioned service may use this flaw to trick systemd into killing other services and/or privileged processes.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 4.4CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-250 · Execution with Unnecessary Privileges