CVE-2026-48792

MEDIUM

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

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Description

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.

References (3)

Core 3
Core References
X_Refsource_Misc x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/issues/351
X_Refsource_Misc x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/issues/55

Scores

CVSS v3 4.4
EPSS 0.0013
EPSS Percentile 2.8%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact partial

Details

CWE
CWE-390 CWE-693
Status published
Products (1)
mcdope/pam_usb < 0.9.1
Published May 27, 2026
Tracked Since May 28, 2026