CVE-2023-29383
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.43 % · percentile 37 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- mitre
- NVD status
- Modified
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.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-125 — Out-of-bounds Read
- CWE-74 — Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component
References
- https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/687
- https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/commit/e5905c4b84d4fb90aefcd96ee618411ebfac663d
- https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/security-resources/security-advisories/?fid=31797
- https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/cve-2023-29383-abusing-linux-chfn-to-misrepresent-etc-passwd/
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/04/msg00026.html
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-202008.html
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | LOW 3.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N | NVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary) |
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-32955
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2023-29383
CERT-FR advisories
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1385 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0326 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0316 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0218 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2025-AVI-1057 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2025-AVI-0969 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2025-AVI-0864 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans VMware Tanzu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2025-AVI-0756 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2025-AVI-0524 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans VMware Tanzu · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2023-AVI-1015 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Siemens · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:shadow_project:shadow:4.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| affected n/a |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| CERT-FR (ANSSI) | Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0 |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |