pam_usb: deny_remote feature incorrectly classifies IPv4-mapped IPv6 remote connections as local

Summary

CVECVE-2026-47269
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-05-27 21:16:18 UTC
Updated2026-05-28 13:57:25 UTC
Descriptionpam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, pam_usb's deny_remote feature checks utmpx ut_addr_v6 to detect whether an authentication request originates from a remote session. The outer guard was if (utent->ut_addr_v6[0] != 0), which only tests the first 32-bit word of the 128-bit address field. IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses (::ffff:x.x.x.x) store the IPv4 address in ut_addr_v6[3] with ut_addr_v6[0] == 0. On systems where the SSH daemon listens on :: (IPv6 wildcard) with AddressFamily any -- common on Ubuntu and Debian -- incoming IPv4 connections are recorded in utmpx as IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses. The outer check evaluates to false, the remote-detection block is skipped entirely, and the session is treated as local. deny_remote=true does not block the authentication. An attacker with physical access to a registered USB device can authenticate over SSH on an affected system as if they were sitting at a local terminal, bypassing the deny_remote restriction. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.4 HIGH from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-284 | CWE-284 CWE-284: Improper Access Control


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary7.4HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED7.4HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Mcdope Pam Usb affected < 0.9.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-jmmj-qhrq-w45g [email protected] github.com
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/804fe24eae3d742d8be05fd015e36abc3c7d94e5 [email protected] github.com
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