Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 update for shadow-utils

1) Information disclosure

EUVDB-ID: #VU80801

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 1.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-4641

CWE-ID: CWE-200 - Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor

Exploit availability: No

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

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ARM 64: 9

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, little endian: 9

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems: 9

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64: 9

shadow-utils (Red Hat package): before 4.9-8.el9

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_for_arm_64:9:*:*:*:*:red_hat_enterprise_linux:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian:9:*:*:*:*:red_hat_enterprise_linux:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems:9:*:*:*:*:red_hat_enterprise_linux:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux:9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:shadow-utils_redhat_package:*:*:*:*:*:red_hat_enterprise_linux:*:*

External links

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6632

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.