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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-48064: mcdope pam_usb · Incorrect Authorization

Affects mcdope pam_usbSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.1 High : upgrade to 0.9.1 soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
8.1High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 27% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 0.9.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 0.9.1.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
mcdopepam_usbAffected
  • <0.9.1
Fixed in
  • 0.9.1
GitHubmcdope/pam_usbpkg:github/mcdope/pam_usbOther threatsAffected
  • <0.9.1
Fixed in
  • 0.9.1

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 0.9.1 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed.

Description

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.1, when a PAM service is configured with deny_remote=false in pam_usb (commonly done for display managers such as gdm-password or lightdm to bypass process/TTY heuristics for local sessions), the PAM_RHOST check in pusb_do_auth() is also skipped. PAM_RHOST is set by remote daemons (sshd, XDMCP servers) to identify the remote client address. Because the check is gated inside if (opts.deny_remote), a genuine remote XDMCP connection reaches the USB device authentication step instead of being rejected. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.1.

References

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