Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2010-3435

The (1) pam_env and (2) pam_mail modules in Linux-PAM (aka pam) before 1.1.2 use root privileges during read access to files and directories that belong to arbitrary user accounts, which might allow local users to obtain sensitive information by leveraging this filesystem activity, as demonstrated by a symlink attack on the .pam_environment file in a user's home directory.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2010-3435 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 1 product from linux-pam organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2011, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2011-01-24T18:00:02.033

Last Modified

2025-04-11T00:51:21.963

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 4.7 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: NONE

Exploitability Score

3.4

Impact Score

6.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
NVD-CWE-Other

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	≤ 1.1.1	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.1.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.2.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.2.1	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.3.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.4.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.5.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.6.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.6.1	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.6.2	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.6.3	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.7.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.7.1	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.8.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.8.1	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.9.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	0.99.10.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	1.0.0	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	1.0.1	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	1.0.2	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	1.0.3	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	1.0.4	Yes
Application	linux-pam	linux-pam	1.1.0	Yes

References

http://git.altlinux.org/people/ldv/packages/?p=pam.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=06f882f30092a39a1db867c9744b2ca8d60e4ad6 ([email protected])
http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2011/000126.html ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/3 Patch ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/10 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/4 Patch ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/5 Patch ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/7 Patch ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/8 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/10/25/2 Patch ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/49711 ([email protected])
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201206-31.xml ([email protected])
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:220 ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/24/2 ([email protected])
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0819.html ([email protected])
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0891.html ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/516909/100/0/threaded ([email protected])
http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0004.html ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0606 ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=641335 Patch ([email protected])
http://git.altlinux.org/people/ldv/packages/?p=pam.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=06f882f30092a39a1db867c9744b2ca8d60e4ad6 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2011/000126.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/3 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/10 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/4 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/5 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/7 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/8 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/10/25/2 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/49711 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201206-31.xml (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:220 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/24/2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0819.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0891.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/516909/100/0/threaded (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0004.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0606 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=641335 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For linux-pam's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.