Issued:
2013-01-07
Updated:
2013-01-07

RHBA-2013:0040 - shadow-utils bug fix update

Synopsis

shadow-utils bug fix update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory (none)

Topic

Updated shadow-utils packages that fix a bug in pwconv are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Description

The shadow-utils package includes the necessary programs for converting UNIX password files to the shadow password format, plus programs for managing user and group accounts. The pwconv command converts passwords to the shadow password format. The pwunconv command converts shadow passwords and generates an npasswd file (a standard UNIX password file). The pwck command checks the integrity of password and shadow files. The lastlog command prints out the last login times for all users. The useradd, userdel, and usermod commands are used for managing user accounts. The groupadd, groupdel, and groupmod commands are used for managing group accounts.

This update addresses the following bug in pwconv (or grpconv):

  • A structural bug in a delete routine meant /etc/shadow (or /etc/gshadow) files containing bad entries were not updated properly by pwconv (or grpconv). Specifically if /etc/shadow (or /etc/gshadow) contained two consecutive bad entries, the second of the two bad entries was skipped when pwconv (or grpconv) was run on the file. This left the file improperly updated. With this update, the loop that iterates through /etc/shadow (or /etc/gshadow) was reworked. No bad lines (consecutive or otherwise) are now skipped and /etc/shadow (or /etc/gshadow) files are properly updated by pwconv (or grpconv). (BZ#787736)

All shadow-utils users should install this update which fixes this bug.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/articles/11258

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian5ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems5s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop5i386

Updated Packages

  • shadow-utils-debuginfo-4.0.17-21.el5.ppc.rpm
  • shadow-utils-debuginfo-4.0.17-21.el5.i386.rpm
  • shadow-utils-4.0.17-21.el5.ppc.rpm
  • shadow-utils-4.0.17-21.el5.src.rpm
  • shadow-utils-4.0.17-21.el5.s390x.rpm
  • shadow-utils-4.0.17-21.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • shadow-utils-debuginfo-4.0.17-21.el5.ia64.rpm
  • shadow-utils-4.0.17-21.el5.ia64.rpm
  • shadow-utils-debuginfo-4.0.17-21.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • shadow-utils-debuginfo-4.0.17-21.el5.s390x.rpm
  • shadow-utils-4.0.17-21.el5.i386.rpm

Fixes

(none)

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Additional information