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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.

CVSS Vector Breakdown

AV:LAC:MAu:NC:PI:NA:N
Exploitability
AV:LAccess Vector
Local
AC:MAccess Complexity
Medium
Au:NAuthentication
None
Impact
C:PConfidentiality
Partial
I:NIntegrity
None
A:NAvailability
None

Weaknesses

Affected Products

Exploitability

Official Patch Available

References

and 13 more references View all →

Timeline

Published
Jan 24, 2011
Last Updated
Apr 29, 2026

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