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CVE-2018-20839· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

systemd 242 changes the VT1 mode upon a logout, which allows attackers to read cleartext passwords in certain circumstances, such as watchin

systemd 242 changes the VT1 mode upon a logout, which allows attackers to read cleartext passwords in certain circumstances, such as watching a shutdown, or using Ctrl-Alt-F1 and Ctrl-Alt-F2. This occurs because the KDGKBMODE (aka current keyboard mode) check is mishandled.

MediumCVSS 4.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 17, 2019
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
2.5% · 84th percentile
CWE
—
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

18

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
17 / 40 · 4.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 2.5%

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
systemd projectsystemd
netappcn1610 firmware
netappcn1610
netappsnapprotect
netappsolidfire \& hci management node

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • netapp cn1610 firmwareall versions
  • netapp snapprotectall versions
  • netapp solidfire & hci management nodeall versions
  • systemd project systemd242

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12plymouthbefore 0.9.4-10.9.4-1

Same product

systemd project: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2017-9445In systemd through 233, certain sizes passed to dns_packet_new in systemd-resolved can cause it to allocate a buffer that's too small.
    46Plan
  • CVE-2018-21029systemd 239 through 245 accepts any certificate signed by a trusted certificate authority for DNS Over TLS.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2015-7510Stack-based buffer overflow in the getpwnam and getgrnam functions of the NSS module nss-mymachines in systemd.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2017-1000082systemd v233 and earlier fails to safely parse usernames starting with a numeric digit (e.g.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2022-2526A use-after-free vulnerability was found in systemd.
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2017-15908In systemd 223 through 235, a remote DNS server can respond with a custom crafted DNS NSEC resource record to trigger an infinite loop in th
    37Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:plymouth0.9.4-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Physical access to the device is required.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Physical
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

—

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records