CVE-2018-15688 | Out-of-Bounds write in systemd-networkd dhcpv6 option handling

A buffer overflow vulnerability in the dhcp6 client of systemd allows a malicious dhcp6 server to overwrite heap memory in systemd-networkd. Affected releases are systemd: versions up to and including 239.

Published: 2018-10-26 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-15688 is rated Moderate Risk (62/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.68%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-15688

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.73% 1.68% +0.95%
2 2025-11-21 1.24% 0.73% -0.52%
3 2025-11-18 — 1.24% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-15688

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
8.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
5.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:A)
Requires access to an adjacent network segment.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 6.5 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-15688

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-15688

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-15688 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (network-manager, systemd), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-15688
gentoo high CVE-2018-15688: 1 GLSA(s) (201810-10), 1 atom(s) (sys-apps/systemd); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-15688
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-15688
suse high CVE-2018-15688 severity important: SUSE including 777 source package names (0.1.0:libsystemd0-234-24.15.1, 0.1.0:libudev1-234-24.15.1, …), 1509 product×package rows across 224 product lines (Container caasp/v4/389-ds, Container caasp/v4/busybox, … (224 product lines)): Fixed 1331, Known Affected 157, Known Not Affected 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-15688/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-15688 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (network-manager, systemd), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, cosmic, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6, pending 2, DNE 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-15688

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-15688

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
systemd_project systemd <= 239 cpe:2.3:a:systemd_project:systemd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-15688

cvelogic Threat Intelligence