{"id":"CVE-2023-29383","revision":"2105e3fb0ded4977b656aff78726667b","records":[{"revision":"2105e3fb0ded4977b656aff78726667b","observedAt":"2026-10-23T15:48:27.903+00:00","statement":{"source":"cve-program","id":"CVE-2023-29383","aliases":[],"title":"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),…","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.","state":0,"publishedAt":"2023-04-14T00:00:00+00:00","modifiedAt":"2026-10-14T22:55:00.155+00:00","affected":[{"ecosystem":"Vendor product","name":"n/a","ranges":[],"versions":[],"rawVersionEvidence":"{\n                    \"vendor\": \"n/a\",\n                    \"product\": \"n/a\",\n                    \"versions\": [\n                        {\n                            \"version\": \"n/a\",\n                            \"status\": \"affected\"\n                        }\n                    ]\n                }"}],"metrics":[],"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/"],"sourceUrl":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-29383","license":"CVE Program Terms of Use","key":"cve-program:CVE-2023-29383","identifiers":["CVE-2023-29383"]},"retained":false,"historicalAffected":[]}],"coverage":[]}