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Fencer Intel
high 7.5

CVE-2019-12209 json

Yubico pam-u2f 1.0.7 attempts parsing of the configured authfile (default $HOME/.config/Yubico/u2f_keys) as root (unless openasuser was ena…

published 7y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2019-3854

cvss
7.5
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
2.8%
EPSS 2.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 86%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Yubico pam-u2f 1.0.7 attempts parsing of the configured authfile (default $HOME/.config/Yubico/u2f_keys) as root (unless openasuser was enabled), and does not properly verify that the path lacks symlinks pointing to other files on the system owned by root. If the debug option is enabled in the PAM configuration, part of the file contents of a symlink target will be logged, possibly revealing sensitive information.

Patch / fix

  • pam-u2f Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1.0.8-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2019-12209

  • pam_u2f SLES 12 SP4, SLED 12 SP4, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 +2 more 1.0.8-3.3.1
  • libu2f-host SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 1.1.6-3.6.1
  • libu2f-host SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4, SLED 12 SP4 1.1.6-3.5.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2019:1750-1SUSE-SU-2019:1749-1

  • pam_u2f openSUSE Tumbleweed 1.1.1-1.3
  • pam_u2f openSUSE Leap 15.0 1.0.8-lp150.7.1
  • libu2f-host openSUSE Leap 15.0 1.1.6-lp150.10.1
  • pam_u2f openSUSE Leap 15.1 1.0.8-lp151.2.3.1
  • libu2f-host openSUSE Leap 15.1 1.1.6-lp151.2.6.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:11145-1openSUSE-SU-2019:1725-1openSUSE-SU-2019:1708-1

  • pam-u2f Arch Linux 1.0.8-2

arch linux advisories AVG-973

Is CVE-2019-12209 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2019-12209 updated cvss 4.3

pam-u2f: insecure debug file handling leads to information disclosure

  • Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat products
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

2.81% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 86% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/06/05/1 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 7.5 CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD 2.0 5.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.