Is CVE-2026-48792 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-48792 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-48792?

Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 4.4, published 27 May 2026.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-48792?

A patch was published on 2026-05-27: CVE published and fix confirmed in 0.9.1 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-48792 attacked?

It is attacked with local access, in a software library.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-48792?

Check whether you run Mcdope Pam Usb at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2026-48792: mcdope pam_usb protection mechanism failure in virtual device detection

CVE-2026-48792 · Severity: medium · CVSS 4.4 · Published 2026-05-27

pam_usb is a tool that allows users to log into Linux systems using a USB flash drive as a physical key. A flaw in the software's error handling causes it to silently skip security checks if it lacks the necessary permissions to scan for virtual input devices (often used in remote desktop attacks). This can lead administrators to believe their systems are protected against remote login bypasses when the security check is actually non-functional, potentially allowing unauthorized access in specific configurations.

Technologies: Mcdope Pam Usb. Vendors: Mcdope.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-48792 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-48792 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-48792?: Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 4.4, published 27 May 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Mcdope Pam Usb < 0.9.1.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-48792?: A patch was published on 2026-05-27: CVE published and fix confirmed in 0.9.1 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-48792 attacked?: It is attacked with local access, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-48792?: Check whether you run Mcdope Pam Usb at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

The vulnerability exists in `src/evdev.c` within the `pusb_has_virtual_input_device()` function. When attempting to open `/dev/input/event*` nodes to detect virtual input devices (a countermeasure against remote desktop-based authentication bypasses), the code silently ignores `EACCES` (Permission Denied) errors. Because these device nodes are typically restricted to root or the 'input' group, a process running with reduced privileges will fail to open any nodes and return a '0' (no virtual devices found) result. The caller in `src/local.c` cannot distinguish between a legitimate absence of virtual devices and a failed scan, causing the authentication process to proceed without the intended security enforcement. This primarily impacts administrators using `pamusb-check` for validation or deployments where the PAM module runs with restricted privileges. The issue is resolved in version 0.9.1 by tracking `EACCES` errors and returning a distinct sentinel value.

Affected products

mcdope pam_usb < 0.9.1

Timeline

2021-03-01: other: Initial security audit request opened
2026-05-19: disclosed: Issue reported on GitHub
2026-05-20: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
2026-05-27: patched: CVE published and fix confirmed in 0.9.1

References

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