CVE-2015-3238

medium
Published 2015-08-24 · Modified 2026-05-06
CVSS v3
6.5
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
VIR risk
6.5

Description

The _unix_run_helper_binary function in the pam_unix module in Linux-PAM (aka pam) before 1.2.1, when unable to directly access passwords, allows local users to enumerate usernames or cause a denial of service (hang) via a large password.

Predictions

Exploit likelihood
75%
Patch ETA

Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.

Mitigations

No vendor mitigations ingested yet for this CVE. The mitigation-content worker queues fetches as references arrive — check back in a few minutes, or see the references list below.

OS impact

OSVersionStatusFixed in
suse slesaffected
debian debianbookwormfixed1.1.8-3.2
debian debianbullseyefixed1.1.8-3.2
debian debianforkyfixed1.1.8-3.2
debian debiansidfixed1.1.8-3.2
debian debiantrixiefixed1.1.8-3.2

Application impact

VendorProductVersionsFixed
linux-pamlinux-pam{"endIncluding":"1.1.8"}
oracle oraclesparc-opl_service_processor{"endIncluding":"1121"}

References

CWEs

CWE-200

💬 Discuss CVE-2015-3238 on VIR Community →

Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.

Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.