What is CVE-2018-19788?

CVE-2018-19788 is a high-severity vulnerability in Polkit Project, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2018-12-03.

How severe is CVE-2018-19788?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2018-19788 known to be exploited?

15 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Improper input validation in Polkit Project

CVE-2018-19788

A flaw was found in PolicyKit (aka polkit) 0.115 that allows a user with a uid greater than INT_MAX to successfully execute any systemctl command.

Vulnerability class: Drupalgeddon 2 (CVE-2018-7600)

Published 2018-12-03 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.115 (95.9th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 96th percentile — 95.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.115 · newest: 0.115 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Polkit Project — versions 0.115
Canonical Ubuntu Linux — versions 12.04, 14.04, 16.04
Debian Linux — versions 8.0, 9.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-20 — Improper Input Validation

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

usn.ubuntu.com/3861-1/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/01/msg00021.html (mailing-list, Third Party Advisory)
usn.ubuntu.com/3861-2/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
bugs.debian.org/915332 (Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
gitlab.freedesktop.org/polkit/polkit/issues/74 (Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory)
www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4350 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2046 (vendor-advisory)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201908-14 (vendor-advisory)
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3232 (vendor-advisory)
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-19788?: CVE-2018-19788 is a high-severity vulnerability in Polkit Project, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2018-12-03.
How severe is CVE-2018-19788?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2018-19788 known to be exploited?: 15 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.