Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdc!mhn
From: mhn@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Mark Notess)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: chfn and Yellow Pages passwd
Message-ID: <5570283@hpfcdc.HP.COM>
Date: 31 Aug 89 19:14:11 GMT
References: <470@abekrd.UUCP>
Organization: HP Ft. Collins, Co.
Lines: 12

> 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?

It is a bug through 6.5.  It is now fixed (fixed in the sense that
chfn will work on local /etc/passwd entries without corrupting the file).

Mark Notess