CVE-2026-48984
pam_usb: xfree() does not call explicit_bzero — sensitive cryptographic material may linger in freed heap
Description
pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. In versions 0.9.1 and below, the xfree() memory release helper in calls free() without first zeroing the buffer contents, releasing heap-allocated buffers containing sensitive data — including one-time pad bytes read from disk — without clearing, leaving the sensitive content in freed heap memory until it happens to be overwritten by a subsequent allocation. On a system where a use-after-free condition exists, or where a heap inspection primitive becomes available, this could allow recovery of pad values or other authentication material from freed memory regions. This is a defence-in-depth requirement consistent with prior hardening work in this codebase (GHSA-vx6f-rrqr-j87c applied explicit_bzero to some pad paths; this issue generalises the pattern to the central deallocation helper).
INFO
Published Date :
June 18, 2026, 5:06 p.m.
Last Modified :
June 18, 2026, 5:06 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
GitHub_M
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-48984
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
Solution
- Update pam_usb to a patched version.
- Clear sensitive data from heap memory.
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