`CVE-2018-15686` systemd

Affected software	systemd
Severity	7.8 High CVSS 3.1 3 scores
Weakness	Deserialization of untrusted data (CWE-502)
Published	26 Oct 2018
Updated	17 Jun 2026

Description

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.

Exploitation status

Working exploit published

A reviewed exploit catalogue lists ready-to-run exploit code for this CVE.

CISA KEV not listed
VulnCheck KEV not listed
CISA Vulnrichment exploitation: none
Indexed PoC 2 indexed Published artifacts you can open, in Exploit-DB, GitHub PoC; first seen 2018-10-29.
EPSS 2.3% chance in 30 days

1 of these are GitHub repositories with fewer than 5 stars. They are listed for reference and don't count toward the exploitation status above.

Index	Artifact	Stars	First seen
GitHub PoC	Remediation task for CVE-2018-15686, CVE-2018-16866, and CVE-2018-16888 affecting SystemD in EL7		2019-10-03
Exploit-DB	systemd - 'reexec' State Injection		2018-10-29

Index

Artifact

Stars

First seen

GitHub PoC

Remediation task for CVE-2018-15686, CVE-2018-16866, and CVE-2018-16888 affecting SystemD in EL7

2019-10-03

Exploit-DB

systemd - 'reexec' State Injection

2018-10-29

Waratek protection

Outside Waratek scope

A Java vulnerability, but not one Waratek protects. It affects only Java on a user's desktop (applets, Web Start, JavaFX, the installer), sits in a product the Waratek agent can't be installed into, or is in a package we don't expect in business applications. The decision below says which.

Protection none
Action not pursued none
Review human Researcher
Record active

Decided by	Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset
Finding	A manual classification set this CVE's status to Outside Waratek scope, but the CVE names a tracked product.

Decided by

Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset

Finding

A manual classification set this CVE's status to Outside Waratek scope, but the CVE names a tracked product.

CVSS

7.8 HIGH v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 3 metrics

We show the highest score from the newest CVSS version. Scores from different versions can't be compared, and the first score listed is sometimes a 0.0 placeholder.

Version Score Band Vector Assigner Type

CVSS 3.1 7.8 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H NVD Primary published

CVSS 3.0 7.0 HIGH CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H security@ubuntu.com Secondary

CVSS 2.0 7.2 none AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C NVD Primary

Version	Score	Band	Vector	Assigner	Type
CVSS 3.1	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`	NVD	Primary	published
CVSS 3.0	7.0	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`	security@ubuntu.com	Secondary
CVSS 2.0	7.2	none	`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`	NVD	Primary

Affected software and releases

Oracle advisories

Advisory	Type	Quarter	Products Oracle names in its risk matrix
Oracle Critical Patch Update July 2021 ↗	CPU	2021-Q3	Oracle Communications / Signaling (Calico) (1.4.0)

Advisory

Type

Quarter

Products Oracle names in its risk matrix

Oracle Critical Patch Update July 2021 ↗

CPU

2021-Q3

Oracle Communications / Signaling (Calico) (1.4.0)

Oracle components and versions

Family	Component	Versions, as Oracle lists them	Read as
Oracle Communications	Signaling (Calico)	1.4.0	1.4.0

Family

Component

Versions, as Oracle lists them

Read as

Oracle Communications

Signaling (Calico)

1.4.0

Products and versions

4 products, 6 version entries

Source	Vendor	Product	Scheme	Affected versions
nvd	canonical	ubuntu linux	generic	16.04 · 18.04 · 18.10
nvd	debian	debian linux	generic	8.0
nvd	oracle	communications cloud native core network function cloud native environment	generic	1.4.0
nvd	systemd project	systemd	generic	≤ 239

Source

Vendor

Product

Scheme

Affected versions

nvd

canonical

ubuntu linux

generic

16.04 · 18.04 · 18.10

nvd

debian

debian linux

generic

8.0

nvd

oracle

communications cloud native core network function cloud native environment

generic

1.4.0

nvd

systemd project

systemd

generic

≤ 239

Earlier manual review

A reviewer classified this CVE in an older dataset. We kept the labels and products below, but not the reviewer's reasoning.

## Manual Classification Context **Labels:** SIGNALING (CALICO) **Products:** SYSTEMD, ORACLE COMMUNICATIONS, ORACLE COMMUNICATIONS CLOUD NATIVE CORE NETWORK FUNCTION CLOUD NATIVE ENVIRONMENT

References

URL	Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105747	Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2091	Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3222	Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0593	Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/10519	Patch, Third Party Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1b103833cb5bc8466e24ff0ecc5e75b45a705334ab6a444e64e840a0%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/11/msg00017.html	Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201810-10	Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3816-1/	Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45714/	Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry

URL

Timeline

Published	2018-10-26	By the CVE Program.
NVD record modified	2026-06-17	NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Published

2018-10-26

By the CVE Program.

NVD record modified

2026-06-17

NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

How VRT decided (5 of 24 rules ran)

5 of 24 rules ran. The rest didn't run because an earlier rule had already settled the CVE.

# Rule Outcome Status Detail

identity: Does this identifier describe a vulnerability at all? the first rule that matches decides

1 rejected no match CVE Program withdrawal of this identifier

scope: Is it a vulnerability Waratek protects? the first rule that matches decides

2 armr-patch-file no match An ARMR patch file on disk for this CVE

3 armr-secure-rule-file no match An ARMR security-rule template on disk for this CVE

4 manual-classification no match A researcher's recorded decision for this specific CVE

5 manual classification decided it matched Outside Waratek scope Found in legacy manual classifications

6 non-java-upstream not reached A root cause in non-Java code: an OS kernel, a C library, or a bundled runtime

7 oracle-component not reached The defect being in a component of a tracked product the agent does not reach: JavaFX, the Java SE installer, the JInitiator browser plug-in, the native WebLogic proxy plug-in, or a native part of Oracle Application Server or Collaboration Suite (HTTP Server, Web Cache, Internet Directory, mail and calendar servers). Oracle gives these no CPE of their own and names them only in the description.

8 java-client-side not reached Oracle's own risk-matrix note saying the CVE is reached only through untrusted code in the Java sandbox (applets, Web Start) or only through a client installation of Java, so a server running its own trusted code is not exposed

9 osv-maven not reached An OSV.dev record of this CVE affecting a package published to Maven Central. When every such package is one business applications do not use (Minecraft mods and launchers, Fastjson) and no tracked product is named by CPE, it settles the CVE as Outside Waratek scope instead

10 cna-maven-package not reached An affected Maven artifact named by the CNA itself

11 known-cpe-product not reached An NVD CPE naming a product ARMR tracks

12 cna-cpe-product not reached A CPE the CNA published naming a tracked product. Oracle publishes these on advisory day, months before NVD.

13 oracle-advisory-family not reached A tracked product family named in Oracle's own risk matrix. CPE cannot carry a suite name, only a module.

14 cna-named-product not reached A tracked product named in words by the CVE's own CNA, on a record with no CPE yet. Apache and Eclipse publish these on advisory day, before NVD adds CPE data.

15 non-deployable-product not reached The only affected product being a sealed appliance image, where Java runs but no -javaagent can be attached

16 unmatched-product not reached No tracked product matched above, and none present at all

disposition: What do we do about one that is? every rule runs

17 patch-hint not reached A reference pointing at the upstream fix: a commit, a PR, a Red Hat bug

18 open-source-maven not reached The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read

19 poc-derivable not reached An indexed exploit clearing the evidence bar to reverse-engineer, where there is no source to read

20 no-exploit not reached Nothing to build a rule from yet: no published exploit, no CISA record of exploitation and no source-level change to read

21 secure-rule-match not reached A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule

22 exploited-no-fix-or-poc not reached Somebody exploiting this CVE (a CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, or a CISA verdict of active exploitation), with no fix, source code or PoC to build a rule from

23 below-action-threshold not reached Medium or Low severity, no CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, no PoC clearing the evidence bar, no CISA verdict, no Oracle advisory

24 no-exploit-published not reached Exploit code for this candidate, published in a reviewed catalogue or a GitHub repository with 5 or more stars, or in use per CISA or VulnCheck; not only a CISA verdict, a forecast, or nothing at all

NVD ↗ · CVE.org ↗