Skip to content
OpenAdvisories
Medium · 5.8 CVE-2026-48983 EUVD-2026-37936

pam_usb: TOCTOU race condition in pad directory creation allows symlink substitution

Published Jun 18, 2026 · Updated Jun 22, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. In versions prior to 0.9.2, a symlink race condition exists in per-device and per-user pad directory creation. pam_usb uses a check-then-act pattern: it calls lstat() to test for existence and then calls mkdir() separately to create the directory. A local attacker can win the race between these calls by replacing the target path with a symlink to a directory they control. If successful, one-time pad files may be written to an attacker-controlled location, potentially exposing future pad values before use or disrupting authentication. This issue has been fixed in version 0.9.2.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
mcdope pam_usb < 0.9.2 —

References