pam_radius: buffer overflow in password field
Published Feb 24, 2020
7.5
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 3.54%
Description
add_password in pam_radius_auth.c in pam_radius 1.4.0 does not correctly check the length of the input password, and is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow during memcpy(). An attacker could send a crafted password to an application (loading the pam_radius library) and crash it. Arbitrary code execution might be possible, depending on the application, C library, compiler, and other factors.
Affected products
No data.
Configuration 1
- 1.4.0
Configuration 2
- 8.0
- 9.0
Configuration 3
- 12.04
- 14.04
- 16.04
- 18.04
- 19.10
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
As shipped in epel-6, the gcc compiler opts for __memcpy_chk() [with the correct buffer length] to ensure that there is a crash instead of an an overflow. Thus it is believed that only a Deianl of Service can be triggered using this flaw.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/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 (13 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 3.54% (0.03535) | 88.88th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 3.45% (0.03449) | 87.43th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 2.00% (0.02005) | 82.08th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 3.38% (0.03375) | 78.77th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 2.00% (0.02005) | 82.49th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.40% (0.00403) | 74.51th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 19, 2024 | 0.40% (0.00403) | 73.73th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.57% (0.00571) | 77.20th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 8, 2023 | 0.57% (0.00571) | 74.61th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.43% (0.00435) | 70.67th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.76% (0.02762) | 82.95th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 2.76% (0.02762) | 81.27th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 2.76% (0.02762) | 62.80th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (10)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-9542 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1686980 Issue Tracking
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2015-9542 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://github.com/FreeRADIUS/pam_radius/commit/01173ec2426627dbb1e0d96c06c3ffa0b14d36d0 x_refsource_MISCPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00023.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/08/msg00000.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-9542
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4290-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4290-2/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-9542
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-9542 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1686980 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2015-9542 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://github.com/FreeRADIUS/pam_radius/commit/01173ec2426627dbb1e0d96c06c3ffa0b14d36d0 | x_refsource_MISCPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00023.html | mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/08/msg00000.html | mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-9542 | ||
| https://usn.ubuntu.com/4290-1/ | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory | |
| https://usn.ubuntu.com/4290-2/ | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-9542 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.