cli method to change user password

Is there a method to change a user password AND sme dependancies via the command line? I have a user that is primarily outside my network and uses shell access and putty/pscp to backup important files to my server via the internet. He could ssh in and use lynx to access user-password page, or use putty as a ssh tunnel to get into the local network and then browse the user-password page. Neither is as elegant as a simple "e-smith-passwd" type comand. Does anyone know if this exist in sme or a contrib?

Thanks,

Dale