CVE-2015-6564: Use-after-free vulnerability in the mm_answer_pam_free_ctx function in monitor.c in sshd in OpenSSH before...

Security readout for executives and security teams

This is a local privilege-escalation flaw in OpenSSH sshd before 7.0 on non-OpenBSD systems. An attacker already able to run as a local low-privileged user could potentially abuse PAM privilege-separation handling to gain higher privileges. It is serious, but the source bundle does not support remote unauthenticated exploitation or active exploitation. Likely exposure is non-OpenBSD Unix/Linux systems running OpenSSH sshd before 7.0, especially where PAM is enabled and local or SSH-authenticated untrusted users exist. The bundle lists downstream vendor advisories, but does not provide a complete affected product matrix. Prioritize remediation on shared Linux/Unix servers and SSH bastions where compromised or untrusted local users could turn limited access into administrative control. This is less urgent than a remote unauthenticated SSH flaw, but still high impact for multi-user or externally accessed environments. Mitigation focus: Upgrade OpenSSH or vendor packages to a fixed release or backported security update.; Use vendor advisories to confirm whether your distribution backported the OpenSSH 7.0 fix.; Prioritize shared servers, bastion hosts, and systems with untrusted local users..

Prepared

Jun 1, 2026, 02:43 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.