# CVE-2018-20839: Information disclosure in n/a

> Attackers can read cleartext passwords from the terminal during logout or shutdown due to mishandled keyboard mode checks in systemd.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 May 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-20839, GHSA-5cwj-wmj7-j224

## What is CVE-2018-20839?

CVE-2018-20839 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Netapp Solidfire \& Hci Management Node, published on 17 May 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

systemd 242 changes the VT1 mode upon a logout, which allows attackers to read cleartext passwords in certain circumstances, such as watching a shutdown, or using Ctrl-Alt-F1 and Ctrl-Alt-F2. This occurs because the KDGKBMODE (aka current keyboard mode) check is mishandled.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20839?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Netapp Cn1610 Firmware, Netapp Snapprotect, Netapp Solidfire \& Hci Management Node, Systemd Project Systemd.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20839?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2018-20839 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20839 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20839 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20839 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Netapp Solidfire \& Hci Management Node, published on 17 May 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20839 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Netapp Solidfire \& Hci Management Node. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20839/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20839/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20839
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20839
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20839

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20839/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.