--- lib/libutil/pw_util.c.orig	2007-01-09 02:02:05.000000000 +0100
+++ lib/libutil/pw_util.c	2008-09-08 17:16:36.000000000 +0200
@@ -214,18 +214,23 @@
 pw_tmp(int mfd)
 {
 	char buf[8192];
+	char pcpy[MAXPATHLEN];
 	ssize_t nr;
 	const char *p;
 	int tfd;
 
 	if (*masterpasswd == '\0')
 		return (-1);
-	if ((p = strrchr(masterpasswd, '/')))
+	if (!realpath(masterpasswd, pcpy)) {
+		strncpy(pcpy, masterpasswd, MAXPATHLEN - 1);
+		pcpy[MAXPATHLEN] = '\0';
+	}
+	if ((p = strrchr(pcpy, '/')))
 		++p;
 	else
-		p = masterpasswd;
+		p = pcpy;
 	if (snprintf(tempname, sizeof(tempname), "%.*spw.XXXXXX",
-		(int)(p - masterpasswd), masterpasswd) >= (int)sizeof(tempname)) {
+		(int)(p - pcpy), pcpy) >= (int)sizeof(tempname)) {
 		errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
 		return (-1);
 	}
@@ -251,9 +256,16 @@
 int
 pw_mkdb(const char *user)
 {
+	char real_passwd_dir[MAXPATHLEN];
+	char *p;
 	int pstat;
 	pid_t pid;
 
+	if (realpath(masterpasswd, real_passwd_dir) &&
+	    (p = strrchr(real_passwd_dir, '/')))
+		*p = '\0';
+	else
+		strcpy (real_passwd_dir, passwd_dir);
 	(void)fflush(stderr);
 	switch ((pid = fork())) {
 	case -1:
@@ -262,10 +274,10 @@
 		/* child */
 		if (user == NULL)
 			execl(_PATH_PWD_MKDB, "pwd_mkdb", "-p",
-			    "-d", passwd_dir, tempname, (char *)NULL);
+			    "-d", real_passwd_dir, tempname, (char *)NULL);
 		else
 			execl(_PATH_PWD_MKDB, "pwd_mkdb", "-p",
-			    "-d", passwd_dir, "-u", user, tempname,
+			    "-d", real_passwd_dir, "-u", user, tempname,
 			    (char *)NULL);
 		_exit(1);
 		/* NOTREACHED */