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.

Published: 2011-01-24 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2010-3435 is rated Low Risk (28.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.36%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2010-3435

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.09% 0.36% +0.27%
2 2025-03-30 0.15% 0.09% -0.06%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.15% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2010-3435

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.7 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.4 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2010-3435

OS Trackers for CVE-2010-3435

vendor priority summary link
debian low CVE-2010-3435 low priority: Debian including 1 source packages (pam), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2010-3435
gentoo high CVE-2010-3435: 1 GLSA(s) (201206-31), 1 atom(s) (sys-libs/pam); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2010-3435
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-3435
ubuntu medium CVE-2010-3435 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (pam), 7 status rows across 7 suites (dapper, hardy, karmic, lucid, maverick, natty, upstream): released 5, ignored 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2010-3435

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2010-3435

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux-pam linux-pam <= 1.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.2.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.7.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.8.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.9.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 0.99.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:0.99.10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.0.4 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2010-3435

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