GLSA 200411-09: shadow: Unauthorized modification of account information

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	low
Title:	shadow: Unauthorized modification of account information
Date:	11/04/2004
Bugs:	#69212
ID:	200411-09

Synopsis

A flaw in the chfn and chsh utilities might allow modification of account properties by unauthorized users.

Background

shadow provides a set of utilities to deal with user accounts.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
sys-apps/shadow	< 4.0.5-r1	>= 4.0.5-r1	All supported architectures

Description

Martin Schulze reported a flaw in the passwd_check() function in "libmisc/pwdcheck.c" which is used by chfn and chsh.

Impact

A logged-in local user with an expired password may be able to use chfn and chsh to change his standard shell or GECOS information (full name, phone number...) without being required to change his password.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All shadow users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/shadow-4.0.5-r1"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200411-09.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org.