(pam_env): Infinite loop by expanding certain arguments
Published Jul 22, 2012
2.1
LOWCVSS 2.0
EPSS 0.53%
Description
The _expand_arg function in the pam_env module (modules/pam_env/pam_env.c) in Linux-PAM (aka pam) before 1.1.5 does not properly handle when environment variable expansion can overflow, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption).
Affected products
No data.
- ≤ 1.1.4
- 0.99.1.0
- 0.99.2.0
- 0.99.2.1
- 0.99.3.0
- 0.99.4.0
- 0.99.5.0
- 0.99.6.0
- 0.99.6.1
- 0.99.6.2
- 0.99.6.3
- 0.99.7.0
- 0.99.7.1
- 0.99.8.0
- 0.99.8.1
- 0.99.9.0
- 0.99.10.0
- 1.0.0
- 1.0.1
- 1.0.2
- 1.0.3
- 1.0.4
- 1.1.0
- 1.1.1
- 1.1.2
- 1.1.3
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
pam-0:1.1.1-13.el6
Fixed · RHSA-2013:0521
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
pam
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
pam
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | pam-0:1.1.1-13.el6 | Fixed | RHSA-2013:0521 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 | pam | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | pam | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
This issue did not affect the versions of pam package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (9 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.53% (0.00532) | 42.87th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.53% (0.00532) | 40.50th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.06% (0.00062) | 16.48th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.07th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 41.69th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 10, 2022 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 39.91th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 37.91th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 20.32th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (10)
- http://git.fedorahosted.org/git/?p=linux-pam.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=109823cb621c900c07c4b6cdc99070d354d19444 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- http://secunia.com/advisories/46583 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAVendor Advisory
- http://secunia.com/advisories/49711 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAVendor Advisory
- http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201206-31.xml vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1237-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2011-3149 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pam/+bug/874565 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=746620 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-3149
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-3149
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://git.fedorahosted.org/git/?p=linux-pam.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=109823cb621c900c07c4b6cdc99070d354d19444 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| http://secunia.com/advisories/46583 | third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAVendor Advisory | |
| http://secunia.com/advisories/49711 | third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAVendor Advisory | |
| http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201206-31.xml | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO | |
| http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1237-1 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2011-3149 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pam/+bug/874565 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=746620 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-3149 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-3149 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.