Vulnerability identifier: #VU80801

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 3.6 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-4641

CWE-ID: CWE-200

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
shadow
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: Mark Florian

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to gain access to potentially sensitive information.

The vulnerability exists due to an error in gpasswd(1), which fails to clean memory properly. When asking for a new password, shadow-utils asks the password twice. If the password fails on the second attempt, shadow-utils fails in cleaning the buffer used to store the first entry. A local user with enough access can retrieve the password from the memory.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

shadow: 4.0.0 - 4.13

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External links
http://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2215945
http://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/commit/65c88a43a23c2391dcc90c0abda3e839e9c57904

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.