[plug] [Fwd: (Fwd) Forgotten Password]

[Christian]

Garth Atkinson wrote:

> > This is Debian - it comes with sulogin setup to run by default so this
> > won't work.

> Even with non-debian systems you still must know root's password for
> single user...

I've used several systems for which this certainly wasn't the case (Red
Hat 5.0 for example.  Some Slackware too I think).  My understanding is
that if /etc/inittab specifies to load sulogin for single-user mode then
a root password is required for a shell.  Otherwise you just get dumped
into a root shell.  Everything I've ever read confirms this (compare
"Essential System Administration" p 89 and the "Linux Administrator's
Security Guide").  Tamara also just mentioned that she'd recovered her
root password by booting directly into single user mode (for memory she
runs Red Hat...?).  Maybe you've just never used a system that didn't
run sulogin...

Regards,

Christian.

-- 
Ferguson's Precept:
        A crisis is when you can't say "let's forget the whole thing."