Check Point Advisories

Systemd journald Privilege Escalation (CVE-2018-16864)

Vulnerability
Protection

Check Point Reference:	CPAI-2018-1596
Date Published:	5 Sep 2020
Severity:	Medium
Last Updated:	Thursday 26 June, 2025
Source:
Industry Reference:	CVE-2018-16864
Protection Provided by:	Security Gateway R81, R80, R77, R75
Who is Vulnerable?	Systemd-journald up to v240
Vulnerability Description	A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Systemd-journald. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow a remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to the affected system.

Protection Overview

This protection detects attempts to exploit this vulnerability.

In order for the protection to be activated, update your Security Gateway product to the latest IPS update. For information on how to update IPS, go to SBP-2006-05, click on Protection tab and select the version of your choice.

Security Gateway R81 / R80 / R77 / R75

In the IPS tab, click Protections and find the Systemd journald Privilege Escalation (CVE-2018-16864) protection using the Search tool and Edit the protection's settings.
Install policy on all Security Gateways.

This protection's log will contain the following information:

Attack Name: Web Client Enforcement Violation.
Attack Information: Systemd journald Privilege Escalation (CVE-2018-16864)