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Date:      Fri, 29 Dec 2017 23:47:28 +0000
From:      mqudsi@neosmart.net
To:        freebsd-current@freebsd.org
Subject:   Allowing local console root login on PAM initialization failure
Message-ID:  <01010160a4ac5f03-b7b69fa3-f430-4695-ac50-a27304437eeb-000000@us-west-2.amazonses.com>

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Hello all,

I have a question regarding the behavior of the PAM module, in =
particular
pertaining to the default behavior wherein root login is =
completely disabled
(even from the physical console) when the permissions =
on the PAM configuration
files in `/etc/pam.d/` are incorrect (anything =
other than `600`).

It absolutely makes sense for the PAM mechanism to fail=
 to initialize for
safety reasons under these circumstances, and activities=
 such as remote login,
ssh authentication, su/sudo, etc. all make sense to =
be blocked. But given that
the PAM configuration can be reset from the =
local machine in single user mode,
is there a benefit to blocking root =
login at the tty when PAM fails to
initialize?

For reference, attempting =
to log in at the console when the permissions on
`/etc/pam.d/` are =
incorrect gives the following error:

```
freebsd login: in =
openpam_check_desc_owner_perms(): /etc/pam.d/login: insecure
ownership or permissions
freebsd login: pam_start(): system error
```

Just wondering if this behavior is intentional or if patches to allow login
at the local console upon PAM failure would be welcomed.

Thank you,

Mahmoud Al-Qudsi
NeoSmart Technologies





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