diff -Naur systemd-240/src/sysusers/sysusers.c systemd-240-s/src/sysusers/sysusers.c
--- systemd-240/src/sysusers/sysusers.c	2018-12-21 19:53:33.000000000 +0100
+++ systemd-240-s/src/sysusers/sysusers.c	2019-01-22 02:08:41.738090967 +0100
@@ -1922,6 +1922,11 @@
         Item *i;
         int r;
 
+
+	if (geteuid() != 0) {
+		return log_error_errno(SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(EINVAL), "Root privileges needed to run this tool!");
+	}
+
         r = parse_argv(argc, argv);
         if (r <= 0)
                 return r;