Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-48984

Published
18 June 2026
Modified
22 June 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 4.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0015 4th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-48984 is a medium-severity Compiler Removal of Code to Clear Buffers (CWE-14) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 4.7 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked at the 4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to MP-6 (Media Sanitization) and SC-4 (Information in Shared System Resources) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. In versions 0.9.1 and below, the xfree() memory release helper in calls free() without first zeroing the buffer contents, releasing heap-allocated buffers containing sensitive data — including one-time pad bytes…

more

read from disk — without clearing, leaving the sensitive content in freed heap memory until it happens to be overwritten by a subsequent allocation. On a system where a use-after-free condition exists, or where a heap inspection primitive becomes available, this could allow recovery of pad values or other authentication material from freed memory regions. This is a defence-in-depth requirement consistent with prior hardening work in this codebase (GHSA-vx6f-rrqr-j87c applied explicit_bzero to some pad paths; this issue generalises the pattern to the central deallocation helper).

CWE(s)
CWE-14CWE-226

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552 Unsecured Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may search compromised systems to find and obtain insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.001 Credentials In Files Credential Access
Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.002 Credentials in Registry Credential Access
Adversaries may search the Registry on compromised systems for insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.004 Private Keys Credential Access
Adversaries may search for private key certificate files on compromised systems for insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-11602Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-33196Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-20622Shared CWE-226
CVE-2024-21850Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-2522Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-13108Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-33198Shared CWE-226
CVE-2019-25560Shared CWE-226
CVE-2024-7883Shared CWE-226
CVE-2026-32960Shared CWE-226

Affected Assets

—
In
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 4 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V14.2.8
  • V14.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

MP-6 Media Sanitization good match

MP-6 requires sanitization of media before release for reuse, directly stopping sensitive data from remaining in resources made available to others.

SC-4 Information in Shared System Resources good match

SC-4 requires preventing unintended information transfer through shared system resources such as memory, which is achieved by clearing data before reuse.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation partial match

Developer testing and evaluation can include static analysis or binary inspection that reveals compiler removal of buffer-clearing stores.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles applied during design and implementation can mandate use of volatile qualifiers, explicit_bzero, or similar techniques that survive dead-store elimination.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.DS-10 full match
prevents

Explicit example calls for removing confidential data (e.g., from process memory) after use, directly preventing reuse of uncleared resources.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include compiler-aware mitigations (volatile, memset_s) that prevent this exact weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.10 Information deletion full match
degrades

Explicitly requires secure deletion of information before resources are reused or disposed.

A.7.14 Secure disposal or re-use of equipment mostly match
prevents

Mandates secure disposal or re-use of equipment, covering media sanitization but not in-memory reuse.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect residual sensitive data left by dead-store removal, but does not prevent the weakness itself.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

A secure SDLC can include compiler-flag and code-review requirements that mitigate dead-store removal, yet the control is broader.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding rules can mandate explicit volatile or memory-clearing patterns that survive compiler optimization.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248579 OL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271745 OL 9 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230269 RHEL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257797 RHEL 9 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226

References