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VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2026-47272: mcdope pam_usb · Improper Authentication

Affects mcdope pam_usbSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.1 High : upgrade to 0.9.0 soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.1High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 1% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 0.9.0
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 27 May 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 30 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade pam_usb and mcdope/pam_usb to 0.9.0.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
mcdopepam_usbAffected
  • <0.9.0
Fixed in
  • 0.9.0
GitHubmcdope/pam_usbpkg:github/mcdope/pam_usbOther threatsAffected
  • <0.9.0
Fixed in
  • 0.9.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade pam_usb to version 0.9.0 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. There is no indication of an official patch advisory beyond this version update. Until upgraded, users should be aware that deleting the ~/.pamusb/device.pad file can bypass authentication, so restricting local user permissions and monitoring for such file deletions may help mitigate risk.

Description

CVE-2026-47272 is a high-severity vulnerability in pam_usb versions prior to 0.9.0 that allows improper authentication. The flaw exists because the authentication function pusb_pad_compare() only verified the presence and readability of the user-side pad file (~/. pamusb/device.pad) but did not enforce verification of the system-side pad file on the USB device. If the user-side pad file is deleted or unreadable, the function returns a failure treated as non-fatal in some code paths, enabling a local user to bypass the USB device requirement and authenticate without the physical device. This vulnerability is fixed in version 0.9.0.

References

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