CVE-2026-47270
pam_usb: strtok() race condition in multi-threaded PAM hosts can corrupt deny_remote result
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.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
6.3
pam_usb: strtok() race condition in multi-threaded PAM hosts can corrupt deny_remote result
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.
- Record
CVE-2026-47270- CVSS 3.1
- 6.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-32655
6.3
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.
- Record
EUVD-2026-32655- CVSS 3.1
- 6.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
6.3
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.
- Record
CVE-2026-47270- CVSS 3.1
- 6.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
6.3
pam_usb: strtok() race condition in multi-threaded PAM hosts can corrupt deny_remote result
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.
- Record
CVE-2026-47270- CVSS 3.1
- 6.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-47270 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.3) in Mcdope Pam Usb, published May 27, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.11%, the 1st percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-j3xw-vc43-x7jg
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/94f1640a61d49dfaf38e782680a52f01d5bf8b51
github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/commit/d003e551b794a9e3774ff4720830fb7aadaa48bd
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/47xxx/CVE-2026-47270.json
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-47270