CVE-2026-47270 (GCVE-0-2026-47270)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-05-27 20:10 – Updated: 2026-05-27 20:10
VLAI
Title
pam_usb: strtok() race condition in multi-threaded PAM hosts can corrupt deny_remote result
Summary
pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, pam_usb is a PAM module loaded into the host process (sudo, login, GDM, GNOME Shell). Display managers such as GDM run multiple concurrent authentication threads. Three functions used by the deny_remote feature called the non-reentrant strtok(), which stores state in a single global pointer. If two authentications race, one thread's strtok() call can overwrite the other's in-progress tokenisation pointer, causing incorrect parsing of the tmux session data or the /proc environ scan that backs the remote-session detection logic. Additionally, pusb_tmux_get_client_tty() passed the raw pointer returned by getenv(TMUX) directly to strtok(). getenv() returns a pointer into the live process environment block; strtok() inserts NUL bytes into that block, permanently corrupting the TMUX variable for subsequent code running in the same process. In long-lived display managers this affects all future authentications in that process. The combined effect can cause deny_remote=true to return an incorrect decision for a remote session, or an incorrect decision for a local session, depending on thread interleaving. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.
Severity
6.3 (Medium)
CWE
- CWE-362 - Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
Assigner
References
3 references
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/adviso… | x_refsource_CONFIRM |
| https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/94f1640a… | x_refsource_MISC |
| https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/d003e551… | x_refsource_MISC |
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"product": "pam_usb",
"vendor": "mcdope",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "\u003c 0.9.0"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, pam_usb is a PAM module loaded into the host process (sudo, login, GDM, GNOME Shell). Display managers such as GDM run multiple concurrent authentication threads. Three functions used by the deny_remote feature called the non-reentrant strtok(), which stores state in a single global pointer. If two authentications race, one thread\u0027s strtok() call can overwrite the other\u0027s in-progress tokenisation pointer, causing incorrect parsing of the tmux session data or the /proc environ scan that backs the remote-session detection logic. Additionally, pusb_tmux_get_client_tty() passed the raw pointer returned by getenv(TMUX) directly to strtok(). getenv() returns a pointer into the live process environment block; strtok() inserts NUL bytes into that block, permanently corrupting the TMUX variable for subsequent code running in the same process. In long-lived display managers this affects all future authentications in that process. The combined effect can cause deny_remote=true to return an incorrect decision for a remote session, or an incorrect decision for a local session, depending on thread interleaving. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"attackComplexity": "HIGH",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"availabilityImpact": "NONE",
"baseScore": 6.3,
"baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
"confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
"integrityImpact": "HIGH",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N",
"version": "3.1"
}
}
],
"problemTypes": [
{
"descriptions": [
{
"cweId": "CWE-362",
"description": "CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization (\u0027Race Condition\u0027)",
"lang": "en",
"type": "CWE"
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-05-27T20:10:37.108Z",
"orgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
"shortName": "GitHub_M"
},
"references": [
{
"name": "https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-j3xw-vc43-x7jg",
"tags": [
"x_refsource_CONFIRM"
],
"url": "https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-j3xw-vc43-x7jg"
},
{
"name": "https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/94f1640a61d49dfaf38e782680a52f01d5bf8b51",
"tags": [
"x_refsource_MISC"
],
"url": "https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/94f1640a61d49dfaf38e782680a52f01d5bf8b51"
},
{
"name": "https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/d003e551b794a9e3774ff4720830fb7aadaa48bd",
"tags": [
"x_refsource_MISC"
],
"url": "https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/d003e551b794a9e3774ff4720830fb7aadaa48bd"
}
],
"source": {
"advisory": "GHSA-j3xw-vc43-x7jg",
"discovery": "UNKNOWN"
},
"title": "pam_usb: strtok() race condition in multi-threaded PAM hosts can corrupt deny_remote result"
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
"assignerShortName": "GitHub_M",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-47270",
"datePublished": "2026-05-27T20:10:37.108Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-05-18T23:03:37.229Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-05-27T20:10:37.108Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2",
"vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
"nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2026-47270\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"security-advisories@github.com\",\"published\":\"2026-05-27T21:16:18.950\",\"lastModified\":\"2026-05-27T21:16:18.950\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Received\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.0, pam_usb is a PAM module loaded into the host process (sudo, login, GDM, GNOME Shell). Display managers such as GDM run multiple concurrent authentication threads. Three functions used by the deny_remote feature called the non-reentrant strtok(), which stores state in a single global pointer. If two authentications race, one thread\u0027s strtok() call can overwrite the other\u0027s in-progress tokenisation pointer, causing incorrect parsing of the tmux session data or the /proc environ scan that backs the remote-session detection logic. Additionally, pusb_tmux_get_client_tty() passed the raw pointer returned by getenv(TMUX) directly to strtok(). getenv() returns a pointer into the live process environment block; strtok() inserts NUL bytes into that block, permanently corrupting the TMUX variable for subsequent code running in the same process. In long-lived display managers this affects all future authentications in that process. The combined effect can cause deny_remote=true to return an incorrect decision for a remote session, or an incorrect decision for a local session, depending on thread interleaving. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.\"}],\"metrics\":{\"cvssMetricV31\":[{\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\",\"type\":\"Secondary\",\"cvssData\":{\"version\":\"3.1\",\"vectorString\":\"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N\",\"baseScore\":6.3,\"baseSeverity\":\"MEDIUM\",\"attackVector\":\"LOCAL\",\"attackComplexity\":\"HIGH\",\"privilegesRequired\":\"LOW\",\"userInteraction\":\"NONE\",\"scope\":\"UNCHANGED\",\"confidentialityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"integrityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"availabilityImpact\":\"NONE\"},\"exploitabilityScore\":1.0,\"impactScore\":5.2}]},\"weaknesses\":[{\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\",\"type\":\"Primary\",\"description\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"CWE-362\"}]}],\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/94f1640a61d49dfaf38e782680a52f01d5bf8b51\",\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\"},{\"url\":\"https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/d003e551b794a9e3774ff4720830fb7aadaa48bd\",\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\"},{\"url\":\"https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-j3xw-vc43-x7jg\",\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\"}]}}"
}
}
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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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