---
id: CVE-2022-45873
title: >-
  systemd 250 and 251 allows local users to achieve a systemd-coredump deadlock
  by triggering a crash that has a long backtrace
summary: >-
  systemd 250 and 251 allows local users to achieve a systemd-coredump deadlock
  by triggering a crash that has a long backtrace. This occurs in
  parse_elf_object in shared/elf-util.c. The exploitation methodology is to
  crash a binary callin…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-400
  - CWE-400
vendor: systemd_project
product: systemd
affected:
  - 'systemd >= 250, <= 251'
  - systemd = 252
  - fedora = 36
published: '2022-11-23'
updated: '2026-10-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-14T19:16:54.910'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-45873'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/076b807be472630692c5348c60d0c2b7b28ad437
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/24853#issuecomment-1326561497'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/25055#issuecomment-1313733553'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: >-
      https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MS5N5SLYAHKENLAJWYBDKU55ICU3SVZF/
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/076b807be472630692c5348c60d0c2b7b28ad437
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/24853#issuecomment-1326561497'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/25055#issuecomment-1313733553'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: >-
      https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MS5N5SLYAHKENLAJWYBDKU55ICU3SVZF/
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00266
epssPercentile: 0.17204
ingestedAt: '2026-10-14T19:49:57.525Z'
---

## Overview

systemd 250 and 251 allows local users to achieve a systemd-coredump deadlock by triggering a crash that has a long backtrace. This occurs in parse_elf_object in shared/elf-util.c. The exploitation methodology is to crash a binary calling the same function recursively, and put it in a deeply nested directory to make its backtrace large enough to cause the deadlock. This must be done 16 times when MaxConnections=16 is set for the systemd/units/systemd-coredump.socket file.

## Affected

- `systemd >= 250, <= 251`
- `systemd = 252`
- `fedora = 36`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.