While not critical, CVE-2010-3435 could compromise confidentiality or integrity in certain conditions.
Status: Deferred
Last updated: 🕧 11 Apr 2025, 00:51 UTC
Originally published on: 🕕 24 Jan 2011, 18:00 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 5190 days
CVSS Release: version 2
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.
The exploitability of CVE-2010-3435 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
Moderate complexity but no authentication required makes CVE-2010-3435 a potential risk.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2010-3435, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2010-3435, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.
EPSS Score: 0.044% (probability of exploit)
EPSS Percentile: 12.68%
(lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 87.32% of others.
NVD-CWE-Other
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