From: John Christian (potus98@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jan 06 2006 - 15:33:38 EST
Hi gurus,
I have ONE host where the passwd command is prompting root for a password
before it allows you to set a password.
On all other hosts, I can su - to root and issue the passwd command to reset
passwords without being prompted for any passwords. The passwd manpage confirms
this it the correct behavior:
"In the files case, super-users (for instance, real and effective uid
equal to 0, see id(1M) and su(1M)) may change any password. Hence, passwd does
not prompt privileged users for the old password."
Using my well behaving hosts as a reference, I've tried to find any
differences, but have not found any clues yet.
/usr/bin/passwd binary is same size and date stamp as other hosts.
/etc/default/passwd is identical to other hosts. (content and perms)
/etc/nsswitch.conf is identical to other hosts. (content and perms)
/etc/shadow entries for root are the same except of course for the encrypted
password and the last changed field.
No NIS, NIS+, or LDAP in use or configured to be used.
I su - to become root on all hosts.
The shells and environment varables in use are mostly the same.
The /usr/bin/su command I use to become root is same size and date stamp as
other hosts.
QUESTION: Why is passwd on this one host treating root as a plebian? What else
should I check to determine why passwd is prompting root for a password before
allowing root to set a password?
Thanks for any help or hints on where to look next. Will summarize.
-John
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