CVE-2011-3149

The _expand_arg function in the pam_env module (modules/pam_env/pam_env.c) in Linux-PAM (aka pam) before 1.1.5 does not properly handle when environment variable expansion can overflow, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption).

Published: 2012-07-22 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2011-3149 is rated Low Risk (23/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.53%). 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-2011-3149

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 0.06% 0.53% +0.47%
2 2025-03-17 0.04% 0.06% +0.02%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2011-3149

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2011-3149

OS Trackers for CVE-2011-3149

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2011-3149 not yet assigned 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-2011-3149
gentoo high CVE-2011-3149: 1 GLSA(s) (201206-31), 1 atom(s) (sys-libs/pam); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2011-3149
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2011-3149
suse low CVE-2011-3149 severity low: SUSE including 57 source package names (pam-1.0.4-0.7.1, pam-1.1.5-0.10.17, …), 88 product×package rows across 34 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (34 product lines)): Fixed 88. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2011-3149/
ubuntu medium CVE-2011-3149 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (pam), 6 status rows across 6 suites (hardy, lucid, maverick, natty, oneiric, upstream): released 5, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2011-3149

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2011-3149

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux-pam linux-pam <= 1.1.4 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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux-pam linux-pam 1.1.3 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2011-3149

cvelogic Threat Intelligence