CVE-2026-44712

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

HIGH
8.2
CVSS Score
Published: May 27, 2026 at 08:24 PM UTC
Updated: October 26, 2026 at 12:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorPam USB

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Severity
HIGH8.2
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 0.8.7
Affected range stops below 0.8.7, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

References (1)

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8.2HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
HIGH
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-78CWE-88

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