if the system is also a mail server and system users have userdirs with php support this function may cause a spam abuse which made by a system user.
<?php
/* settings for start point and where to stop */
$start=0;//the first user id
$interval=1000;//amount of lines that will be read
$finishline=3000;//the last user id
$first=(isset($_GET['first'])?$_GET['first']:$start);
$last=(isset($_GET['last'])?$_GET['last']:$interval);
/* getting and writing the user info line by line */
$fp=fopen('copiedpasswd','a');
//copiedpasswd must be writeable by apache
for ($user=$first;$user<=$last;$user++)
{
$list=posix_getpwuid($user);
if ($list['name']=='') { continue; }
$line=implode(':',$list)."\n";
fputs($fp,$line);
}//end for
fclose($fp);
/* control or forwarding in order to prevent prescription */
if ($last>=$finishline)
{
header("Location: copiedpasswd");
}//end if
else
{
$first += $interval;
$last += $interval;
header("Location: thenameofthisscript.php?first=$first&last=$last");
}//end else
?>
Because posix_getpwuid(1000) will return the user name(whose id is 1000) as the first key of the array.