Re: Weird and insecure su problem
Pigeon wrote:
> If, however, I enter _no_ password, I get:
> : command not found
> ' is not an octal number from 000 to 777
> : command not found
> : command not found
>
> and a somewhat mangled prompt; then
> whoami
> root
>
> - so I've su'ed to root without entering a password. WHAT?
>
> Wondering about the mangled prompt, I did echo $PS1 | hexdump and got:
>
> 68 5c 5c 3a 5c 77 20 24 0a 0d
> ^^^^^
Eek! Sounds messy. A few things to try:
fsck. There could well be a mangled file there, especially when you shut
the system down without the normal shared libraries. And the `not an octal
number' error suggest broken permissions somewhere.
Log in as root under X with [xwkg]dm - if traditional login is working, but
su is broken, see what else might be affected.
Check that /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow match the descriptions in `man
passwd` and `man shadow` respectively. But *DON'T* send them here for a
second opinion. You'll have to use the available information, or google for
example files, to judge for yourself if the format seems right.
Glyn
--
When I talk, you will talk.
When you talk, it will fall back into place.
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