← Vulnerability feed

Vulnerability record · CVE-2018-16865 · published 11 January 2019

CVE-2018-16865: Systemd project systemd allocation without limits vulnerability

Systemd Project · Systemd

An allocation of memory without limits, that could result in the stack clashing with another memory region, was discovered in systemd-journald when many entries are sent to the journal socket. A local attacker, or a remote one if systemd-journal-remote is used, may use this flaw to crash systemd-journald or execute code with journald privileges. Versions through v240 are vulnerable.

7.8 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 3.0% · top 13.1% CWE-770 · Allocation without limits
7.8CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 4.6
3.0%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
11Affected product versions listed by NVD
42References, 2 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

An allocation of memory without limits, that could result in the stack clashing with another memory region, was discovered in systemd-journald when many entries are sent to the journal socket. A local attacker, or a remote one if systemd-journal-remote is used, may use this flaw to crash systemd-journald or execute code with journald privileges. Versions through v240 are vulnerable.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

11 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152841/System-Down-A-systemd-journald-Exploit.html Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/May/21 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/05/10/4 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/07/20/2 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106525 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0049 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0204 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0271 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0342 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0361 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2402 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16865 Issue TrackingPatch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/01/msg00016.html Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/May/25 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-07 Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190117-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3855-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4367 Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuapr2019-5072813.html PatchThird Party Advisory
https://www.qualys.com/2019/01/09/system-down/system-down.txt ExploitThird Party Advisory
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152841/System-Down-A-systemd-journald-Exploit.html Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/May/21 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/05/10/4 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/07/20/2 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106525 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0049 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0204 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0271 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0342 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0361 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2402 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16865 Issue TrackingPatch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/01/msg00016.html Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/May/25 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-07 Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190117-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3855-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4367 Third Party Advisory

Track CVE-2018-16865 inside VULONE

Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.

Start free Open in platform

Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

10.0CVE-2025-32433Erlang/OTP SSH server missing authentication allows remote code executionErlang/OTP SSH servers before OTP-27.3.3, OTP-26.2.5.11 and OTP-25.3.2.20 mishandle SSH protocol messages, letting an unauthenticated attacker execut…KEVEPSS 99%analysed10.0CVE-2025-24201Apple WebKit out-of-bounds write allows sandbox escapeCVE-2025-24201 is an out-of-bounds write in Apple's WebKit that was addressed with improved checks. Maliciously crafted web content may break out of …KEVEPSS 3.8%analysed10.0CVE-2021-44228Apache Log4j2 JNDI lookup remote code executionApache Log4j2 versions 2.0-beta9 through 2.15.0 (excluding 2.12.2, 2.12.3, and 2.3.1) do not protect against attacker-controlled LDAP and other JNDI …KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2026-24061GNU Inetutils telnetd argument injection allows remote auth bypasstelnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 fails to sanitize the USER environment variable, so a value such as "-f root" is passed as an argument to login …KEVEPSS 99%analysed9.8CVE-2025-39682Linux kernel TLS zero-length record handling flaw on rx_listThe Linux kernel TLS receive path mishandles zero-length records that arrive from the rx_list, breaking the assumption that a record type change cann…KEVEPSS 2.9%analysed9.8CVE-2025-24813Apache Tomcat Default Servlet path equivalence enables RCE and file disclosureApache Tomcat mishandles path equivalence for names containing an internal dot, letting a remote unauthenticated attacker write files through the Def…KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2024-9680Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird use-after-free in Animation timelinesA use-after-free flaw in Animation timelines allows an attacker to execute code in the content process of Firefox and Thunderbird. Mozilla reports ex…KEVEPSS 23%analysed9.8CVE-2023-46604Apache ActiveMQ OpenWire deserialization remote code executionThe Java OpenWire protocol marshaller in Apache ActiveMQ deserializes untrusted data, letting an attacker manipulate serialized class types so the br…KEVEPSS 100%analysed

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2018-16865), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-28). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.