CVE-2018-6954: Canonical Ubuntu Linux

High severity, CVSS 7.8. EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

systemd-tmpfiles in systemd through 237 mishandles symlinks present in non-terminal path components, which allows local users to obtain ownership of arbitrary files via vectors involving creation of a directory and a file under that directory, and later replacing that directory with a symlink. This occurs even if the fs.protected_symlinks sysctl is turned on.

Affected products

• Canonical Ubuntu Linux: version 16.04 only; version 18.04 only; version 18.10 only
• Opensuse Leap: version 42.3 only
• Systemd Project Systemd: up to and including 237

Published 2018-02-13. Last modified 2026-06-17.