CVE-2015-3238

Exp

The _unix_run_helper_binary function in the pam_unix module in Linux-PAM (aka pam) before 1.2.1, when unable to directly access passwords, allows local users to enumerate usernames or cause a denial of service (hang) via a large password.

Published: 2015-08-24 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2015-3238 is rated High Exploit Risk (70.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.71%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2015-3238

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2015-3238

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 3.03% 2.71% -0.32%
2 2026-03-30 3.61% 3.03% -0.58%
3 2026-02-19 — 3.61% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-3238

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 2.5 [email protected]
5.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2015-3238

OS Trackers for CVE-2015-3238

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2015-3238 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-2015-3238
gentoo normal CVE-2015-3238: 1 GLSA(s) (201605-05), 1 atom(s) (sys-libs/pam); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2015-3238
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-3238
suse medium CVE-2015-3238 severity moderate: SUSE including 340 source package names (0.9.1:pam-1.1.8-23.1, 1.0.0:pam-1.1.8-23.1, …), 416 product×package rows across 95 product lines (Container caasp/v4/default-http-backend, Container caasp/v4/dnsmasq-nanny, … (95 product lines)): Fixed 259, Known Affected 157. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-3238/
ubuntu low CVE-2015-3238 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (pam), 9 status rows across 9 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, utopic, vivid, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 7, ignored 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-3238

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-3238

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux-pam linux-pam <= 1.1.8 cpe:2.3:a:linux-pam:linux-pam:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle sparc-opl_service_processor <= 1121 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:sparc-opl_service_processor:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-3238

URL Tags
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-July/161350.html
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-June/161249.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1640.html Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/06/25/13
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuapr2016v3-2985753.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/75428
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2935-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2935-2
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2935-3
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1228571
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201605-05
https://www.trustwave.com/Resources/Security-Advisories/Advisories/TWSL2015-011/?fid=6551 Exploit
https://www.trustwave.com/Resources/SpiderLabs-Blog/Username-Enumeration-against-OpenSSH-SELinux-with-CVE-2015-3238/ Exploit
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