Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!network!ucsd!usc!ginosko!uunet!mcsun!ukc!pyrltd!abekrd!garyb
From: garyb@abekrd.UUCP (Gary Bartlett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: chfn and Yellow Pages passwd
Keywords: chfn, yellow pages, passwd
Message-ID: <470@abekrd.UUCP>
Date: 25 Aug 89 08:15:48 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Abekas Video Systems Ltd, Reading, England
Lines: 22

We are running an HP9000/300 system with a no. of diskless nodes and a network
of Sun 3/50s.  The passwords on the HP are yellow paged (a Sun being the
yellow pages server).  We have experienced two problems:

	1) The finger command displays two entries per user.  One showing the
	   shell used on the Suns, the other showing the shell used on the HPs
	   (different).  This isn't too bad though (and for all I know may be
	   the correct behaviour), but the second problem is a little worrying:

	2) After running the chfn command to update the finger information
	   (GCOS field), the local /etc/passwd file gets corrupted.  It
	   contains all the yellow paged passwd information and the local
	   information all mixed into one.  This is clearly wrong and
	   considering chfn runs suid root for anyone, possibly dangerous.

Has anybody noticed this before?  Is it a real bug?
-- 
Gary C. Bartlett               NET: garyb@abekrd.co.uk
Abekas Video Systems Ltd.     UUCP: ...!mcvax!ukc!{reading,pyrltd}!abekrd!garyb
12 Portman Rd,   Reading,    PHONE: +44 734 585421
Berkshire.       RG3 1EA.      FAX: +44 734 597267
United Kingdom.              TELEX: 847579