CVE-2026-48986

Local process hang via stale parent PID

Published Jun 18, 2026 · Updated Jun 18, 2026

Denial of service in mcdope pam_usb 0.9.1 and earlier allows local users to hang an authenticating process during a process-tree walk. pusb_get_process_parent_id() leaves its output PID unchanged when /proc/PID/stat cannot be opened, so pusb_local_login() repeatedly examines the same ancestor. Exploitation requires a process in the caller's ancestor chain to exit during authentication; the affected sudo, sshd, login, or similar process then hangs until forcibly terminated.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in mcdope pam_usb 0.9.1 and earlier allows local users to hang an authenticating process during a process-tree walk. pusb_get_process_parent_id() leaves its output PID unchanged when /proc/PID/stat cannot be opened, so pusb_local_login() repeatedly examines the same ancestor. Exploitation requires a process in the caller's ancestor chain to exit during authentication; the affected sudo, sshd, login, or similar process then hangs until forcibly terminated.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-48986
Published
Jun 18, 2026
Updated
Jun 18, 2026
Vendor
mcdope
Product
pam_usb
Classifications
CWE-835, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 0.9.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

mcdope · pam_usbversion=< 0.9.2

Published CVSS scores

4.7GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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