CVE-2026-48064
pam_usb: PAM_RHOST check skipped when deny_remote=false allows XDMCP authentication bypass
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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.
Remediation
No guide yetNo remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.
References (2)
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CVSS
- Attack Vector
- NETWORK
- Complexity
- HIGH
- Privileges
- NONE
- User Interaction
- NONE
- Scope
- UNCHANGED
- Confidentiality
- HIGH
- Integrity
- HIGH
- Availability
- HIGH
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