pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.1, src/conf.c allocates heap memory proportional to n_devices, a count derived from libxml2 XPath evaluation of the config file, without first enforcing an upper bound. On 32-bit targets (armv7l, i686 -- both listed in the project Makefile), the multiplication n_devices * sizeof(t_pusb_device) wraps around size_t, causing xmalloc() to receive a very small size. Because xmalloc() only calls abort() on NULL return, a small-but-non-NULL allocation is accepted, and subsequent array writes overflow the heap. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.1.

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Wed, 27 May 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.9.1, src/conf.c allocates heap memory proportional to n_devices, a count derived from libxml2 XPath evaluation of the config file, without first enforcing an upper bound. On 32-bit targets (armv7l, i686 -- both listed in the project Makefile), the multiplication n_devices * sizeof(t_pusb_device) wraps around size_t, causing xmalloc() to receive a very small size. Because xmalloc() only calls abort() on NULL return, a small-but-non-NULL allocation is accepted, and subsequent array writes overflow the heap. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.1.
Title pam_usb: Unchecked integer multiplication before xmalloc() in conf.c allows heap-based buffer overflow on 32-bit targets
Weaknesses CWE-122
CWE-190
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-27T19:58:36.447Z

Reserved: 2026-05-20T18:25:25.707Z

Link: CVE-2026-48065

cve-icon Vulnrichment

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cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-05-27T20:16:40.380

Modified: 2026-05-27T20:16:40.380

Link: CVE-2026-48065

cve-icon Redhat

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cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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Weaknesses