# CVE-2010-3431: Information disclosure in n/a

> Local attackers can read sensitive information via symlink attacks due to unchecked setfsuid return values in PAM modules.

- **Severity:** Low 1.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Jan 2011
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2010-3431, GHSA-65hr-mfq3-4rjr

## What is CVE-2010-3431?

CVE-2010-3431 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Jan 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The privilege-dropping implementation in the (1) pam_env and (2) pam_mail modules in Linux-PAM (aka pam) 1.1.2 does not check the return value of the setfsuid system call, which might allow local users to obtain sensitive information by leveraging an unintended uid, as demonstrated by a symlink attack on the .pam_environment file in a user's home directory.  NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2010-3435.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-3431?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux-Pam Linux-Pam.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-3431?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2010-3431 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-3431 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2022-28321](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28321/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-27780](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27780/): Auth bypass in pam (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2010-4708](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4708/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2010-3853](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3853/): Privilege escalation in n/a (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2009-0887](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0887/): Integer overflow in n/a (medium 6.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-3431 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-3431 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Jan 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-3431 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3431/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3431/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-3431
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-3431
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-3431

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3431/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.