SystemdApplication · Systemd Project

CVE-2026-40225

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Developing Published 2026-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 257.13 / 258.7 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In udev in systemd before 260, local root execution can occur via malicious hardware devices and unsanitized kernel output.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · low confidence
Developing — this CVE was published recently and its authoritative NVD entry is still being established, so we're holding a technical summary until the source data settles rather than publish something unreliable. Re-checking after 2026-07-30.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
SystemdApplication
Affected:< 257.13>= 258, < 258.7>= 259, < 259.5

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Physical
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 257.13 / 258.7 / 259.5 or later
Fixed in 257.13258.7259.5
Recommended fix High confidence

systemd 260 or later

  1. Update your system's package repository to ensure you have the latest package listings
  2. Run the appropriate package manager update command for your distribution (e.g., apt update, dnf check-update, yum update, or pacman -Sy)
  3. Upgrade systemd to version 260 or later using your package manager (e.g., apt install systemd=260, dnf upgrade systemd, or pacman -S systemd)
  4. Reboot the system to ensure the new systemd/udev version is loaded
  5. Verify the installed systemd version matches or exceeds 260 using: systemctl --version
Caveat Systemd upgrades may include changes to unit file syntax, service management behavior, or deprecated features; review systemd changelog before upgrading in production environments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-40225 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data