{"id":"CVE-2020-27780","aliases":["ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780","BELL-CVE-2020-27780","EUVD-2020-20284","GHSA-pgjg-jx8c-q35f","openSUSE-SU-2024:11140-1"],"status":"published","title":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for...","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical","assessor":"primary","from":"nvd"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-09","score":0.01959,"percentile":0.80452,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-287"],"published":"2020-12-17T23:55:45Z","modified":"2026-10-26T11:17:55Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.13","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.14","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.15","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.16","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.17","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.18","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.19","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.20","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.21","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.22","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.23","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.24","package":"linux-pam","fixed_in":["1.5.1-r0"],"sources":["osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.13","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.14","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.15","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.16","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.17","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.18","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.19","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.20","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.21","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.22","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.23","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Alpine:v3.24","package":"linux-pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.5.0"},{"fixed":"1.5.1-r0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"openSUSE:Tumbleweed","package":"pam","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.5.2-1.1"}]}],"bundled":2}],"products":[{"vendor":"linux-pam","product":"linux-pam"},{"vendor":"suse","product":"pam"}],"references":[{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1901094","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Issue Tracking","Third Party Advisory","report"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-27780"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pgjg-jx8c-q35f"},{"url":"https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-27780","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://docs.bell-sw.com/security/cves/CVE-2020-27780","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-17953","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-27780","tags":["web"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2020-27780","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","status":"published","published":"2020-12-17T23:55:45Z","modified":"2024-08-04T16:25:42.438Z","cwes":["CWE-287"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:53.552996Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2020-20284","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","status":"published","published":"2020-12-17T23:55:45Z","modified":"2024-08-04T16:25:42Z","updated_at":"2026-11-03T03:07:11.950168Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-pgjg-jx8c-q35f","title":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for...","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","status":"published","published":"2022-05-24T17:36:55Z","modified":"2023-01-29T05:05:06Z","cwes":["CWE-287"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:45:42.563524Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2020-27780","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","status":"published","published":"2020-12-18T00:15:14.33Z","modified":"2026-06-17T03:09:37.823Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical","assessor":"primary"},{"version":"2.0","score":10,"vector":"AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-287"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:06:27.73474Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","status":"published","published":"2020-12-18T00:15:14.33Z","modified":"2026-10-26T11:17:55.163271128Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:27:48.11886Z"},{"id":"BELL-CVE-2020-27780","title":"CVE-2020-27780 does not affect BellSoft software","status":"withdrawn","published":"2023-08-31T12:16:22.509505Z","modified":"2026-01-26T09:47:30.640287Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:28:15.925958Z"},{"id":"CVE-2020-27780","description":"A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.","status":"published","published":"2020-12-18T00:15:14.33Z","modified":"2026-10-24T14:19:46.017958149Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:16.248747Z"},{"id":"openSUSE-SU-2024:11140-1","title":"pam-1.5.2-1.1 on GA media","description":"These are all security issues fixed in the pam-1.5.2-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.","status":"published","published":"2024-06-15T00:00:00Z","modified":"2026-02-04T04:00:31.831941Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T16:58:34.894275Z"}]}}
