CVE-2026-47271

pam_usb: OOM guards removed by -DNDEBUG cause NULL dereference and authentication process crash

Published May 27, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.1 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, src/mem.c implemented out-of-memory guards for xmalloc(), xrealloc(), and xstrdup() using assert(data != NULL). The C standard specifies that all assert() expressions are compiled out when NDEBUG is defined at build time. NDEBUG is commonly defined in release and packaging builds (Debian, Fedora, Arch package flags all define it via -DNDEBUG in CFLAGS). With the guard removed, xmalloc/xrealloc/xstrdup silently return NULL on allocation failure. Every caller in the codebase dereferences the return value without a NULL check -- this is the intended design, as the guard was supposed to abort before the dereference. With the guard gone, any allocation failure causes a NULL pointer dereference, crashing the PAM module. A crash in a PAM module loaded by sudo or login causes authentication to fail for the duration of the crash, creating a local denial-of-service condition. An attacker who can induce memory pressure at authentication time can lock all users out of sudo and login. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

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History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Mcdope
Mcdope pam Usb
Vendors & Products Mcdope
Mcdope pam Usb
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, src/mem.c implemented out-of-memory guards for xmalloc(), xrealloc(), and xstrdup() using assert(data != NULL). The C standard specifies that all assert() expressions are compiled out when NDEBUG is defined at build time. NDEBUG is commonly defined in release and packaging builds (Debian, Fedora, Arch package flags all define it via -DNDEBUG in CFLAGS). With the guard removed, xmalloc/xrealloc/xstrdup silently return NULL on allocation failure. Every caller in the codebase dereferences the return value without a NULL check -- this is the intended design, as the guard was supposed to abort before the dereference. With the guard gone, any allocation failure causes a NULL pointer dereference, crashing the PAM module. A crash in a PAM module loaded by sudo or login causes authentication to fail for the duration of the crash, creating a local denial-of-service condition. An attacker who can induce memory pressure at authentication time can lock all users out of sudo and login. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.
Title pam_usb: OOM guards removed by -DNDEBUG cause NULL dereference and authentication process crash
Weaknesses CWE-476
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
May 28, 2026, 1:38 PM
Reserved
May 18, 2026, 11:03 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
May 27, 2026, 8:16 PM
Modified
Oct 26, 2026, 11:10 AM