How severe is CVE-2026-48985?

CVE-2026-48985 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2026-48985 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (2nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2026-48985?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

Does CVE-2026-48985 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2026-48985 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2026-37924.

When was CVE-2026-48985 published?

CVE-2026-48985 was published on 2026-06-18 and last updated on 2026-06-22.

CVE-2026-48985

CVE-2026-48985 is a medium-severity vulnerability with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-476.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (2nd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2026-37924
Weakness: CWE-476
Published: 2026-06-18
Last modified: 2026-06-22

Description

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. In versions 0.9.1 and below, pusb_is_loginctl_local() can cause a NULL dereference crash when parsing loginctl output. The function calls popen() and reads the result; if the Remote field is only a newline, fgets() succeeds but strtok_r(buf, "\n", &saveptr) returns NULL. A subsequent strcmp(is_remote, "no") then dereferences NULL, causing undefined behavior (typically SIGSEGV) and crashing the PAM module. This can crash the authenticating process (e.g., sudo, login) and, depending on PAM stack configuration, deny access for all users of the affected service. This issue has been fixed in version 0.9.2.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-48985?: pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. In versions 0.9.1 and below, pusb_is_loginctl_local() can cause a NULL dereference crash when parsing loginctl output. The function calls popen() and reads the result; if the Remote field is only a newline, fgets() succeeds but strtok_r(buf, "\n", &saveptr) returns NULL. A subsequent strcmp(is_remote, "no") then dereferences NULL, causing undefined behavior (typically SIGSEGV) and crashing the PAM module. This can crash the authenticating process (e.g., sudo, login) and, depending on PAM stack configuration, deny access for all users of the affected service. This issue has been fixed in version 0.9.2.
How severe is CVE-2026-48985?: CVE-2026-48985 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2026-48985 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (2nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-48985?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2026-48985 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2026-48985 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2026-37924.
When was CVE-2026-48985 published?: CVE-2026-48985 was published on 2026-06-18 and last updated on 2026-06-22.

References

Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities

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