CVE-2014-3879Network attack vector

Authentication bypass via stale PAM policy chain

Published Feb 18, 2020 · Updated Aug 6, 2024

Authentication bypass in OpenPAM Nummularia 9.2 through 10.0 allows context-dependent attackers to log in without passwords via malformed policy includes. The PAM policy parser treats ENOENT from a missing module or included policy as a soft lookup failure and retains the partially loaded configuration instead of discarding it. Exploitation requires a policy referencing an absent or misspelled module or include; affected login services can then accept an empty or incorrect password, producing an authentication fail-open condition.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability2.70%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in OpenPAM Nummularia 9.2 through 10.0 allows context-dependent attackers to log in without passwords via malformed policy includes. The PAM policy parser treats ENOENT from a missing module or included policy as a soft lookup failure and retains the partially loaded configuration instead of discarding it. Exploitation requires a policy referencing an absent or misspelled module or include; affected login services can then accept an empty or incorrect password, producing an authentication fail-open condition.

The record

CVE
CVE-2014-3879
Published
Feb 18, 2020
Updated
Aug 6, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-287
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 18, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 6, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
9.8NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-287Improper Authentication

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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