CVE-2026-48792CWE-390CWE-693

pam_usb: pusb_has_virtual_input_device() silently discards EACCES, disabling remote desktop detection under non-root execution

Medium · published May 27, 2026

CVSS v3.1
4.4
EPSS
0%
Percentile
6.9
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.1, src/evdev.c silently ignores EACCES errors when opening /dev/input/event* nodes, causing pusb_has_virtual_input_device() to return 0 (no virtual devices found) even when every open() call failed due to insufficient permissions. The caller in src/local.c cannot distinguish a clean absence of virtual devices from a permission-denied scan, and acts on the false negative by continuing authentication without denying. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.1.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
4.4 · MEDIUM
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00177 · 6.9th percentile
Weaknesses
CWE-390 · Detection of Error Condition Without Action; CWE-693 · Protection Mechanism Failure
Published
2026-05-27T19:55Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 27 MAY 19:55Z
    pam_usb: pusb_has_virtual_input_device() silently discards EACCES, disabling remote desktop detection under non-root execution
    cvelistv5