[Bug 2059739] Re: initramfs-tools 0.142ubuntu23 copies host /etc/passwd into initramfs

[Benjamin Drung]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and contributing to
Ubuntu. The dhcpcd user is created by dhcpcd-base. So the user should
exist.

Please test the attached patch that only copies the dhcpcd user into the
initramfs.

** Patch added: "0001-Copy-only-dhcpcd-user-into-initramfs-etc-passwd.patch"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/initramfs-tools/+bug/2059739/+attachment/5761741/+files/0001-Copy-only-dhcpcd-user-into-initramfs-etc-passwd.patch

** Changed in: initramfs-tools (Ubuntu)
   Importance: Undecided => Medium

** Changed in: initramfs-tools (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => In Progress

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2059739

Title:
  initramfs-tools 0.142ubuntu23 copies host /etc/passwd into initramfs

Status in initramfs-tools package in Ubuntu:
  In Progress

Bug description:
  Recent changes to the dhcpd hook shipped with dhcpdinitramfs-tools 0.142ubuntu23 (noble-dev) copy the host /etc/passwd into the initramfs-image:
  https://git.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/initramfs-tools/commit/hooks/dhcpcd?h=applied/ubuntu/noble&id=73c865b9d234087d977d7baa20852639746567fd

  This has multiple problems:
   * The passwd file is copied without checking if the dhcpcd user actually exists (which is created by dhcpcd package, but only dhcpcd-base is installed via dependencies)
   * The change breaks dropbear-initramfs because the passwd file contains a root user with a non existing home directory
   * leaking user information into initramfs (which may or may not be a problem on fully encrypted systems)

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