ANSI Escape Injection in systemd-journald Allows Terminal Manipulation

Publication date: 2026-04-10

Last updated on: 2026-05-05

Assigner: MITRE

Description

In systemd 259, systemd-journald can send ANSI escape sequences to the terminals of arbitrary users when a "logger -p emerg" command is executed, if ForwardToWall=yes is set.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published

2026-04-10

Last Modified

2026-05-05

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-04-10

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-40228

EUVD

EUVD-2026-21498

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
systemd_project	systemd	259

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-669	The product does not properly transfer a resource/behavior to another sphere, or improperly imports a resource/behavior from another sphere, in a manner that provides unintended control over that resource.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in systemd version 259 where the systemd-journald component can send ANSI escape sequences to the terminals of arbitrary users. This occurs when the "logger -p emerg" command is executed and the ForwardToWall=yes setting is enabled.

Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can impact users by allowing systemd-journald to send potentially malicious ANSI escape sequences to other users' terminals. This could lead to unintended terminal behavior or information display manipulation, although the CVSS score indicates a low severity with no confidentiality or availability impact, but some integrity impact.

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