CVE catalog

CVE-2020-27780

pam: CVE-2020-27780

Severity: Critical · CVSS 9.8CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published: Dec 18, 2020, 12:15:14 AM UTC
Source: [NVD] · [CVE record]
EPSS: 1.96% · Oct 25, 2026

A flaw was found in Linux-Pam in versions prior to 1.5.1 in the way it handle empty passwords for non-existing users. When the user doesn't exist PAM try to authenticate with root and in the case of an empty password it successfully authenticate.

Vulnerable and fixed packages

Distribution-reported package versions and fixes. These do not depend on matching against the OpenFactory package catalog.

Distribution	Package	Release	Version	Status
Debian	pam	sid	`1.7.0-8`	not affected
Debian	pam	forky	`1.7.0-8`	not affected
Debian	pam	trixie	`1.7.0-5`	not affected
Debian	pam	bookworm	`1.5.2-6+deb12u2`	not affected
Alpine	linux-pam	3.13	`1.5.1`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.14	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.15	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.16	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.17	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.18	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.19	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.20	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.21	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.22	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.23	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed
Alpine	linux-pam	3.24	`1.5.1-r0`	fixed

Fixed-version evidence

Distribution	Package	Type	Release	Fixed version	Urgency	Origin	Bugs
Debian	pam	source	sid	`Not affected`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Debian	pam	source	forky	`Not affected`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Debian	pam	source	trixie	`Not affected`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Debian	pam	source	bookworm	`Not affected`	unimportant	Not reported	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.13	`1.5.1`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.14	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.15	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.16	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.17	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.18	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.19	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.20	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.21	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.22	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.23	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported
Alpine	linux-pam	apk	3.24	`1.5.1-r0`	Not reported	ALPINE-CVE-2020-27780	Not reported

OpenFactory catalog packages

[Debian 12 (Bookworm)]

[libpam0g]Not affected
Source package: [pam]
Details (2)
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
[libpam0g-dev]Not affected
Source package: [pam]
Details (2)
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
[libpam-doc]Not affected
Source package: [pam]
Details (2)
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · all · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · all · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
[libpam-modules]Not affected
Source package: [pam]
Details (2)
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
[libpam-modules-bin]Not affected
Source package: [pam]
Details (2)
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · amd64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · arm64 · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
[libpam-runtime]Not affected
Source package: [pam]
Details (2)
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · all · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm
- 1.5.2-6+deb12u2 · all · bookworm
  Not affected
  dsa · pam · debian · bookworm

Observed: Oct 23, 2026, 5:50:52 PM UTC

References

[Debian Security Tracker] · [FIRST EPSS] · [OSV Package Vulnerability Database] · [SUSE security advisories and VEX]