CVE-2026-44712 PUBLISHED

pam_usb: Shell injection via device UUID and username in pamusb-conf and pamusb-agent

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 07.05.2026 Published: 27.05.2026 Updated: 28.05.2026

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.8.7, a crafted UUID such as $(id>/tmp/rce) in the config causes root RCE when pamusb-conf --reset-pads is run. A USB device with a crafted filesystem UUID (some controllers allow this) can inject the payload at --add-device time. Also, userName from the XML config is passed to os.system() in pamusb-agent, which invokes a shell. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.7.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 8.2

Product Status

Vendor mcdope
Product pam_usb
Versions
  • Version < 0.8.7 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE
  • CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') CWE