CVE-2019-3842 MEDIUM

CVE-2019-3842

Vendor The Systemd Project
Product systemd
Weakness CWE-285
Published April 9, 2019
Last update June 9, 2025

CVSS base score

4.5/10
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity High
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Confidentiality Low
Integrity Low

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

What the vulnerability does

01Description

In systemd before v242-rc4, it was discovered that pam_systemd does not properly sanitize the environment before using the XDG_SEAT variable. It is possible for an attacker, in some particular configurations, to set a XDG_SEAT environment variable which allows for commands to be checked against polkit policies using the "allow_active" element rather than "allow_any".

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

April 9, 2019 CVE published
June 9, 2025 Record updated