Low severity3.3NVD Advisory· Published Apr 14, 2023· Updated Jun 17, 2026
CVE-2023-29383
CVE-2023-29383
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.
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
Affected products
36- Range: <4.13
- osv-coords33 versionspkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2015%20SP2pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2015%20SP2-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Enterprise%20Storage%207.1pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2012%20SP2-BCLpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2015%20SP3-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2015%20SP3pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Manager%20Proxy%204.2pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20High%20Performance%20Computing%2015%20SP2-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2015%20SP1-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20High%20Performance%20Computing%2015%20SP3-ESPOSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Micro%205.1pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Enterprise%20Storage%207pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20OpenStack%20Cloud%209pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2012%20SP4pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2012%20SP5pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20High%20Performance%20Computing%2015%20SP1-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2015%20SP1pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20OpenStack%20Cloud%20Crowbar%209pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Micro%205.5pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Module%20for%20Basesystem%2015%20SP4pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2012%20SP5pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Micro%205.4pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2012%20SP4-ESPOSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Real%20Time%2015%20SP3pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Micro%205.2pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2012%20SP4-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20High%20Performance%20Computing%2015%20SP3-LTSSpkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Manager%20Server%204.2pkg:rpm/opensuse/shadow&distro=openSUSE%20Leap%20Micro%205.4pkg:rpm/suse/shadow&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Micro%205.3pkg:rpm/opensuse/shadow&distro=openSUSE%20Leap%20Micro%205.3pkg:rpm/opensuse/shadow&distro=openSUSE%20Leap%2015.4pkg:rpm/opensuse/shadow&distro=openSUSE%20Tumbleweed
< 4.6-150100.3.8.1+ 32 more
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-27.22.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-27.22.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-27.22.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-36.3.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.6-150100.3.8.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-27.22.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150500.3.3.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150400.10.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-36.3.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150400.3.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-27.22.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.2.1-27.22.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150300.4.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150400.3.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150400.10.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150400.10.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.8.1-150400.10.6.1
- (no CPE)range: < 4.13-6.1
- cpe:2.3:a:shadow_project:shadow:4.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Patches
Vulnerability mechanics
References
5- github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/commit/e5905c4b84d4fb90aefcd96ee618411ebfac663dnvdPatch
- www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/cve-2023-29383-abusing-linux-chfn-to-misrepresent-etc-passwd/nvdExploitThird Party Advisory
- www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/security-resources/security-advisories/nvdExploitThird Party Advisory
- github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/687nvdIssue Tracking
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/04/msg00026.htmlnvd
News mentions
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