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Date:      Tue, 16 Jul 1996 23:11:12 -0400
From:      Red Barchetta <paradox@pegasus.rutgers.edu>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   master.passwd vs. shadow?
Message-ID:  <2.2.32.19960717031112.002cb818@pegasus.rutgers.edu>

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I have been a UNIX user for about 2 years now, but I just recently installed
FreeBSD on my own system.  I do quite a bit of work on Sparcs, so I am
familiar with the concept of a shadowed passwd file, and it appears to me
that the FreeBSD system, which keeps the "meaningful" passwords in
master.passwd and makes it readable only to root.  Can someone explain to me
just how this is implemented?  It seems to be done by default, which
shadowing usually isn't, so I am curious as to the differences between the
two.  I can't seem to find this covered in the FAQ, and the Handbook
security section doesn't even mention master.passwd (unless I need new
glasses ;) )  It probably would have been better to post this to the
security list, but I figured it might be considered "common knowledge"
there.  Thanks for the info!

Ernie Pistor




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