Operating Systems > Linux and UNIX
Editing Red Hat Password Files
hoojchoons:
That's the point. You don't have to remember your old password to change it. I'll have to give it a try to see if it works though.. We'll see..
voidmain:
Of course it works. No box is secure unless physical access is restricted. For instance, in Solaris all you have to do is boot off of CD, mount the root file system, edit the passwd/shadow file and delete the encrypted password. Or enter single user mode and change the password like in the Linux example. Physical access is the key. Hell, even Cisco routers can be manipulated similarly with physical access. Same with Windows. With physical access this is trivial on any OS. That's the point of having locked server rooms.
[ May 27, 2002: Message edited by: VoidMain ]
Sleeping Dog:
I posted this question originally because I am a Linux Newbie.....
However, I do take note of patterns.
Just like the permissions in UNIX seem to fall into a "group of three" pattern, so do those wierd groups of characters that an encrypted password has.
I have noticed that if you put in a five character password, there seem to be fifteen characters in the encrypted thing in the "shadow" file.
Have I made an erroneous observation or are there always three times as many characters in that field of the shadow as there are in the real password?
Kindest Regards
Sleeping Dog
Sleeping Dog:
Another Addendum:
I just saw a thing on the History Channel about how The Brits broke The German Enigma during WWII. If my stupid observation about each character of a UNIX/Linux password being made up of three character "groups" in the shadow file is correct, would that facilitate cracking the password or is that already known?
Happy MEM Day...
Sleeping Dog
Sleeping Dog:
Guess I hit a sore spot. Some say to re-install, some say that I hit the motherload.
Hmmmmm........guess the UNIX Admins out there don't like a newbie like me asking such deep and dark questions.
Now the curiosity is tweaked and the plot thickens....and if you soak chicken parts in cheap lemon juice for 24 hours before they go on the grill, everyone will think that you know how to cook.
Stupididitity has it's rewards if you know when to just be stupid instead of just being a dumbass. Trouble is...I don't know when to stop being a dumbass.
You guys know this stuff and I do not. I just want to load up a computer, write letters, do email and maybe a presentation or two. Occasionally, people send me photos that I want to see, or joke stuff that I want to laugh at. I don't want to have to get a PHD in OS operation just to chuckle at an email.
However.....I hate Microsoft.....Their shit is presently user friendly.....Linux is not recognized as being so. How can we change this attitude and this perception?
I don't know......I just struggle on. Any suggestions?
With Kindest Regards
Sleeping Dog.
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