CVE-2026-48065 Integer overflow in pam usb
An integer overflow in pam_usb allows heap-based buffer overflow on 32-bit Linux systems, potentially enabling code execution.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-48065?
CVE-2026-48065 is a medium-severity vulnerability in mcdope pam_usb, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.1, src/conf.c allocates heap memory proportional to n_devices, a count derived from libxml2 XPath evaluation of the config file, without first enforcing an upper bound. On 32-bit targets (armv7l, i686 -- both listed in the project Makefile), the multiplication n_devices * sizeof(t_pusb_device) wraps around size_t, causing xmalloc() to receive a very small size. Because xmalloc() only calls abort() on NULL return, a small-but-non-NULL allocation is accepted, and subsequent array writes overflow the heap. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.1.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-48065?
How do I fix CVE-2026-48065?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-48065 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-48065 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-48065 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-24mw-m2vf-36vp.