Linux-PAM pam_userdb Observable Timing Discrepancy in Plaintext Password Comparison
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux-PAM | Linux-PAM | unknown |
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No data.
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| Vendor | Product | Versions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux-pam | Linux-pam |
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| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu USN |
USN-8601-1 | PAM vulnerability |
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.320% probability within 30 days)
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Linux-PAM through 1.7.2 contains an observable timing discrepancy (CWE-208) in the pam_userdb module's plaintext-password comparison path in modules/pam_userdb/pam_userdb.c that allows a local or network-adjacent attacker able to repeatedly drive authentication through a calling service to recover the plaintext password of a target account by measuring response-timing differences. The comparison uses strncmp() (or strncasecmp() when PAM_ICASE_ARG is set) preceded by a length-equality check, so the time to reject a candidate depends on the index of the first differing byte and on whether the candidate's length matches the stored password, leaking the password length and individual prefix bytes. The vulnerable path is reached when the administrator configures pam_userdb with crypt=none, with an unrecognized crypt method, or without a crypt= argument, causing the module to store and compare credentials in plaintext. | Linux-PAM through 1.7.2 contains an observable timing discrepancy (CWE-208) in the pam_userdb module's plaintext-password comparison path in modules/pam_userdb/pam_userdb.c that allows a local or network-adjacent attacker able to repeatedly drive authentication through a calling service to recover the plaintext password of a target account by measuring response-timing differences. |
| Title | Linux-PAM pam_userdb - Observable Timing Discrepancy in Plaintext Password Comparison | Linux-PAM pam_userdb Observable Timing Discrepancy in Plaintext Password Comparison |
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Linux-PAM pam_userdb Observable Timing Discrepancy in Plaintext Password Comparison | Linux-PAM pam_userdb - Observable Timing Discrepancy in Plaintext Password Comparison |
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Title | linux-pam: From CVEorg collector | Linux-PAM pam_userdb Observable Timing Discrepancy in Plaintext Password Comparison |
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Timing Attack Enables Password Reconstruction in Linux-PAM pam_userdb | linux-pam: From CVEorg collector |
| References |
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| Metrics |
threat_severity
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threat_severity
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| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
ssvc
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| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Timing Attack Enables Password Reconstruction in Linux-PAM pam_userdb |
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Linux-pam
Linux-pam linux-pam |
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| Vendors & Products |
Linux-pam
Linux-pam linux-pam |
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Linux-PAM through 1.7.2 contains an observable timing discrepancy (CWE-208) in the pam_userdb module's plaintext-password comparison path in modules/pam_userdb/pam_userdb.c that allows a local or network-adjacent attacker able to repeatedly drive authentication through a calling service to recover the plaintext password of a target account by measuring response-timing differences. The comparison uses strncmp() (or strncasecmp() when PAM_ICASE_ARG is set) preceded by a length-equality check, so the time to reject a candidate depends on the index of the first differing byte and on whether the candidate's length matches the stored password, leaking the password length and individual prefix bytes. The vulnerable path is reached when the administrator configures pam_userdb with crypt=none, with an unrecognized crypt method, or without a crypt= argument, causing the module to store and compare credentials in plaintext. | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-208 | |
| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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