CVE-2025-24032: Auth Bypass

Description

PAM-PKCS#11 is a Linux-PAM login module that allows a X.509 certificate based user login. Prior to version 0.6.13, if cert_policy is set to none (the default value), then pam_pkcs11 will only check if the user is capable of logging into the token. An attacker may create a different token with the user's public data (e.g. the user's certificate) and a PIN known to the attacker. If no signature with the private key is required, then the attacker may now login as user with that created token. The default to *not* check the private key's signature has been changed with commit commi6638576892b59a99389043c90a1e7dd4d783b921, so that all versions starting with pam_pkcs11-0.6.0 should be affected. As a workaround, in `pam_pkcs11.conf`, set at least `cert_policy = signature;`.

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Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-287 Improper Authentication

References

Other References

https://github.com/OpenSC/pam_pkcs11/commit/470263258d1ac59c5eade439c4d9caba0097e6e6 https://github.com/OpenSC/pam_pkcs11/commit/b665b287ff955bbbd9539252ff9f9e2754c3fb48 https://github.com/OpenSC/pam_pkcs11/commit/d9530167966a77115db6e885d459382a2e52ee9e https://github.com/OpenSC/pam_pkcs11/releases/tag/pam_pkcs11-0.6.13 https://github.com/OpenSC/pam_pkcs11/security/advisories/GHSA-8r8p-7mgp-vf56 https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/02/msg00021.html https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-24032-detect-vulnerability-in-linux-pam-module https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-24032-mitigate-linux-pam-module-vulnerability

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-24032? +

PAM-PKCS#11 is a Linux-PAM login module that allows a X.509 certificate based user login. Prior to version 0.6.13, if cert_policy is set to none (the default value), then pam_pkcs11 will only check if the user is capable of logging into the token. An attacker may create a different token with the user's public data (e.g. the user's certificate) and a PIN known to the attacker. If no signature with the private key is required, then the attacker may now login as user with that created token. The default to *not* check the private key's signature has been changed with commit commi6638576892b59a99389043c90a1e7dd4d783b921, so that all versions starting with pam_pkcs11-0.6.0 should be affected. As a workaround, in `pam_pkcs11.conf`, set at least `cert_policy = signature;`.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2025-24032? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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