pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.1, when a PAM service…
Summary
Vulnerability reported (CVE-2026-48064). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Mitigation: upgrade to 0.9.1 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
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.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-48064 has been found.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 8.1/10.
What to do: upgrade the affected software to 0.9.1 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "CVE-2026-48064" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-48064 — CWE-863 / CVSS v3 8.1
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Patched: 0.9.1 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Incorrect authorization (CWE-863) has been reported.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.1/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 0.9.1.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで影響コンポーネントを特定する。
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2Apply patch patch
Upgrade to 0.9.1ステージング環境で 0.9.1 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
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3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。