pam_usb: Uncontrolled search path in pam_usb tools allows privilege escalation via PATH manipulation

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-47274
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-05-27 20:16:40 UTC
Updated2026-05-28 13:57:25 UTC
Descriptionpam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, multiple pam_usb helper tools resolved external binaries through the PATH environment variable rather than using absolute paths. An attacker who can influence the process environment during PAM authentication or tool execution could substitute malicious binaries. The affected tools are pamusb-check (src/tmux.c), pamusb-conf (tools/pamusb-conf), and pamusb-keyring-unlock-gnome (tools/pamusb-keyring-unlock-gnome). This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-427 | CWE-427 CWE-427: Uncontrolled Search Path Element

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary6.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED6.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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/commit/1ee8745920388df48d001a8e61ba629071557937 [email protected] github.com
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-pp29-w28g-r9h9 [email protected] github.com
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/52a1fd6413b7ffcc1a5b58ce432be42e7bf0dbd0 [email protected] github.com
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/993e73d8bebb1d8e62677388de3402b6ec36b600 [email protected] github.com
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