Description
Local unprivileged users can terminate arbitrary local processes via a systemd-oomd IPC API due to a missing path traversal validation.
Published: 2026-08-10
Score: 5.5 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Impact

The vulnerability resides in systemd's OOM daemon (systemd-oomd). A missing path traversal validation in its IPC API allows any local unprivileged user to instruct the daemon to terminate an arbitrary process. This can be abused to stop critical services, leading to service disruption or denial of service. The flaw maps to CWE-22 (Path Traversal) and CWE-59 (Improper Handling of Target Process).

Affected Systems

Affected systems include installations of systemd that provide the systemd-oomd service. The advisory does not specify limited versions, so all current releases of systemd-oomd are potentially vulnerable until a patch is applied.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 5.5 indicates moderate severity. No EPSS data is available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The attack requires local access, leveraging the IPC socket exposed by systemd-oomd; an attacker with a user account can exploit the flaw to terminate processes owned by other users or by privileged services. Therefore the risk is tangible for environments where untrusted users have local access.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 10, 2026 at 18:18 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Update systemd to a version that contains the IPC path validation fix.
  • If systemd-oomd is not required, disable or uninstall the service to remove the attack surface.
  • Restrict access to the systemd‑oomd IPC socket by applying stricter file permissions or using a dedicated ACL so that only trusted users may communicate with it.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 10, 2026 at 18:18 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8626-1 systemd vulnerabilities
History

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Systemd
Systemd systemd
Vendors & Products Systemd
Systemd systemd

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Local unprivileged users can terminate arbitrary local processes via a systemd-oomd IPC API due to a missing path traversal validation.
Title systemd-oomd: unprivileged users can terminate arbitrary processes
Weaknesses CWE-22
CWE-59
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Subscriptions

Systemd Systemd
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: systemd

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-10T17:58:08.288Z

Reserved: 2026-07-08T14:15:01.392Z

Link: CVE-2026-15059

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-08-10T17:58:04.783Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-10T14:17:20.760

Modified: 2026-08-10T18:17:40.983

Link: CVE-2026-15059

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-11T14:00:14Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-22

    Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

  • CWE-59

    Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')