diff -r 4f7845be9e23 Modules/spwdmodule.c
--- a/Modules/spwdmodule.c	Mon Aug 19 23:31:18 2013 +0200
+++ b/Modules/spwdmodule.c	Tue Aug 20 22:21:02 2013 +0800
@@ -149,6 +149,11 @@
     if ((d = PyList_New(0)) == NULL)
         return NULL;
     setspent();
+    if (errno == EACCES) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_OSError, "getspall(): The caller does not "
+            "have permission to access the shadow password file");
+        return NULL;
+    }
     while ((p = getspent()) != NULL) {
         PyObject *v = mkspent(p);
         if (v == NULL || PyList_Append(d, v) != 0) {