CVE-2023-29383

Vulnerability Description

In Shadow 4.13, it is possible to inject control characters into fields provided to the SUID program chfn (change finger). Although it is not possible to exploit this directly (e.g., adding a new user fails because \n is in the block list), it is possible to misrepresent the /etc/passwd file when viewed. Use of \r manipulations and Unicode characters to work around blocking of the : character make it possible to give the impression that a new user has been added. In other words, an adversary may be able to convince a system administrator to take the system offline (an indirect, social-engineered denial of service) by demonstrating that "cat /etc/passwd" shows a rogue user account.

CVSS Score

Affected Products

Related Weaknesses (CWE)

References

• https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/commit/e5905c4b84d4fb90aefcd96ee618411ebfPatch
• https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/687Issue Tracking
• https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/cve-2023-29383-aExploitThird Party Advisory
• https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/security-resources/security-advisoriesExploitThird Party Advisory
• https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/commit/e5905c4b84d4fb90aefcd96ee618411ebfPatch
• https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/687Issue Tracking
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/04/msg00026.html
• https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/cve-2023-29383-aExploitThird Party Advisory
• https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/security-resources/security-advisoriesExploitThird Party Advisory