losing user password
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From: steve on 31 May 2010 18:22 I have been running Slack64-13.0 for the past two months. I boot from a flashdrive to my installation on a removable harddrive. Everything ok up to now. But now all of a sudden it won't let me log in as user 'steve', claiming my password is invalid. It still lets me log in as 'root'. I've been able to get back in as 'steve' by deleting user 'steve' and then adding him back, keeping all the files in /home/steve. 1) why is the 'steve' account becoming inaccessible after a reboot? 2) is there a way as 'root' to recover whatever password the computer thinks 'steve' has? --
From: Lew Pitcher on 31 May 2010 19:11 On May 31, 2010 18:22, in alt.os.linux.slackware, shmartonak(a)ticnet.com wrote: > I have been running Slack64-13.0 for the past two months. I boot from > a flashdrive to my installation on a removable harddrive. > > Everything ok up to now. > > But now all of a sudden it won't let me log in as user 'steve', > claiming my password is invalid. It still lets me log in as 'root'. > > I've been able to get back in as 'steve' by deleting user 'steve' and > then adding him back, keeping all the files in /home/steve. > > 1) why is the 'steve' account becoming inaccessible after a reboot? You haven't given us enough information to be able to properly answer this question. Some possibilities are: - you had an expiry date and inactivate date set on the user 'steve' (see passwd(1), -x and -i options) - you were using different /etc/passwd & /etc/shadow files than you had originally used to set the user password - some strange, undiagnosed problem that your brief description does not provide clues to > 2) is there a way as 'root' to recover whatever password the computer > thinks 'steve' has? Technically, no. There is no way to recover the user's password, once it has been encrypted and added to the passwd (and/or shadow) database. However, there are many 'password cracking' programs available, that, if the user has used an easily guessable password (a dictionary word, a date, a proper name, or some other "well-known" limited-range value), can rediscover the user's password by attempting to encrypt guesses until an encrypted guess matches the encrypted passwd. Perhaps the best known of these is "John the Ripper". You can google that one. HTH -- Lew Pitcher Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | Registered Linux User #112576 Me: http://pitcher.digitalfreehold.ca/ | Just Linux: http://justlinux.ca/ ---------- Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing. ------
From: Danno on 31 May 2010 19:15 steve wrote: <snip> > 2) is there a way as 'root' to recover whatever password the computer > thinks 'steve' has? As root couldn't you just su steve then change the password? passwd -- Slackware 12.2, 2.6.27.7, Core i7 920, GeForce 8400 GS RLU #272755
From: Danno on 31 May 2010 19:18 Danno wrote: <snip> > then change the password? > passwd Sorry, didn't realize passwd would prompt for the old password first. -- Slackware 12.2, 2.6.27.7, Core i7 920, GeForce 8400 GS RLU #272755
From: Lew Pitcher on 31 May 2010 19:31
On May 31, 2010 19:15, in alt.os.linux.slackware, WhoaBaby(a)MySecretPlace.org wrote: > steve wrote: > <snip> >> 2) is there a way as 'root' to recover whatever password the computer >> thinks 'steve' has? > > As root couldn't you just > su steve > then change the password? > passwd As /root/, the OP would only have to passwd steve and give the new password. /root/ has the power to change any password without knowing the current password. For that matter, as /root/, the OP could just have edited /etc/shadow to remove 'steve's old password, and then logged on as steve without a password. (Not recommended, unless the passwd(1) utility has been lost) HTH -- Lew Pitcher Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | Registered Linux User #112576 Me: http://pitcher.digitalfreehold.ca/ | Just Linux: http://justlinux.ca/ ---------- Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing. ------ |