Description
A race condition in chown_one() of systemd allows an attacker to cause systemd to set arbitrary permissions on arbitrary files. Affected releases are systemd versions up to and including 239.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| systemd | systemd | unspecified – ≤ 239 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | systemd | 239-11 | — |
| Debian 13 | systemd | 239-11 | — |
| Debian 12 | systemd | 239-11 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | systemd | 237-3ubuntu10.6 | USN-3816-1 |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | systemd | 229-4ubuntu21.8 | USN-3816-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | systemd | 249.4-2.2 | openSUSE-SU-2024:11420-1 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- systemd - 'chown_one()' Dereference Symlinks EDB-45715 · local · Oct 29, 2018 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 3
- USN-3816-1 systemd vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 22, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:11420-1 libsystemd0-249.4-2.2 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- WID-SEC-2025-0391 systemd: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Feb 17, 2025
References
- GLSA-201810-10 vendor-advisory
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/10517/commits
- 105748 vdb-entry
- USN-3816-1 vendor-advisory
- 45715 exploit