CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2023-29383

LOW
3.3
CVSS v3
NVD

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.

How to fix

Remediation Available
shadowDebian
Fixed in:1:4.8.1-1+deb11u1CVE-2023-29383
Fixed in:1:4.13+dfsg1-1+deb12u1CVE-2023-29383
Fixed in:1:4.13+dfsg1-2CVE-2023-29383
Fixed in:1:4.13+dfsg1-2CVE-2023-29383

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Exploit Intelligence

0.43%probability of exploitation in 30 days
34thpercentile

Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 34% of all known CVEs.

References

Issue Tracking1
Other references1

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-74 (Injection) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2013-2251Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2023-22527Critical9.8100%KEV + RansomFix
CVE-2019-2725Critical9.8100%KEV + RansomFix
CVE-2022-46169Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2022-35914Critical9.8100%KEV-
CVE-2019-17558High7.599%KEVFix
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Markdown

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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-11-03.