Many fundamental studies have been conducted to explain the occurrence of squeal in disc and drum brake systems. The elimination of brake squeal, however, still remains a challenging area of research. Here, a numerical modeling approach is developed for investigating the onset of squeal in a drum brake system. The brake system model is based on the modal information extracted from finite element models for individual brake components. The component models of drum and shoes are coupled by the shoe lining material which is modeled as springs located at the centroids of discretized drum and shoe interface elements. The developed multi degree of freedom coupled brake system model is a linear non-self-adjoint system. Its vibrational characteristics are determined by a complex eigenvalue analysis. The study shows that both the frequency separation between two system modes due to static coupling and their associated mode shapes play an important role in mode merging. Mode merging and veering are identified as two important features of modes exhibiting strong interactions, and those modes are likely candidates that lead to coupled-mode instability. Techniques are developed for a parameter sensitivity analysis with respect to lining stiffness and the stiffness of the brake actuation system. The influence of lining friction coefficient on the propensity to squeal is also discussed.