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Improper AuthenticationWeakness · CWE-287

CVE-2024-37408

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
fprintd through 1.94.3 lacks a security attention mechanism, and thus unexpected actions might be authorized by "auth sufficient pam_fprintd.so" for Sudo. NOTE: the supplier disputes this because they believe issue resolution would involve modifying the PAM configuration to restrict pam_fprintd.so to front-ends that implement a proper attention mechanism, not modifying pam_fprintd.so or fprintd.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

fprintd through 1.94.3 lacks a security attention mechanism, which means pam_fprintd.so can authorize actions (including sudo) without requiring user confirmation or visual indication that privileged access is being granted. This allows fingerprint authentication to be used in contexts where it may not have been intended, potentially enabling unintended privileged actions.

MitigationModify PAM configuration to restrict pam_fprintd.so to front-ends that implement proper attention mechanisms, or remove 'sufficient' control flags for sudo-specific PAM stacks to prevent fingerprint-only authentication for privileged commands.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed fprintd version
    Run 'fprintd --version' or check your package manager for fprintd version (e.g., 'dpkg -l libfprint0' or 'rpm -qi fprintd')
    Affected if Version is 1.94.3 or earlier (the vulnerability affects through version 1.94.3)
  2. Locate pam_fprintd.so module
    Run 'find /lib -name pam_fprintd.so' or 'find /lib64 -name pam_fprintd.so' to find the PAM module file
    Affected if The pam_fprintd.so module exists on the system
  3. Check if pam_fprintd.so is used in sudo PAM stack
    Examine /etc/pam.d/sudo (or 'sudo grep -r pam_fprintd /etc/pam.d/') for any line containing 'pam_fprintd.so'
    Affected if pam_fprintd.so is configured in the sudo PAM stack
  4. Check if pam_fprintd.so is used in other privileged PAM stacks
    Run 'grep -r pam_fprintd /etc/pam.d/' to scan all PAM configuration files for pam_fprintd.so usage in stacks like su, sudoers, polkit-1, or other privileged access services
    Affected if pam_fprintd.so is configured in any PAM stack that handles privileged access or authentication escalation
  5. Inspect control flags on pam_fprintd.so entries
    In the affected PAM configuration files, check if pam_fprintd.so uses 'sufficient' or 'required' control flags which allow fingerprint authentication to grant access without additional confirmation
    Affected if The control flag is set to 'sufficient' or 'required' for pam_fprintd.so in privileged PAM stacks, allowing fingerprint alone to grant access

Your environment is affected if fprintd (version 1.94.3 or earlier) is installed with pam_fprintd.so configured in sudo or other privileged access PAM stacks using sufficient or required control flags, allowing fingerprint authentication to grant elevated privileges without user attention or confirmation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Modify PAM configuration to restrict pam_fprintd.so to front-ends that implement proper attention mechanisms, or remove 'sufficient' control flags for sudo-specific PAM stacks to prevent fingerprint-only authentication for privileged commands.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Review the PAM configuration file (typically /etc/pam.d/sudo or /etc/pam.d/system-auth) to identify where pam_fprintd.so is referenced
  2. Consider removing 'pam_fprintd.so' from the sudo PAM stack if a proper attention mechanism is required
  3. If fingerprint authentication is needed for sudo, ensure the front-end (e.g., polkit, desktop session managers) implements a proper attention mechanism (like a confirmation dialog) before invoking PAM operations
  4. Alternatively, change 'sufficient' to 'required' or add additional authentication factors in the PAM configuration to enforce stronger authentication for privileged operations
  5. Test any PAM configuration changes in a non-production environment before deploying
Caveat Modifying PAM configuration can lock out users if misconfigured; test thoroughly

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-37408 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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