passwd not Editable

sunil_thaha · 01-16-2005, 11:42 PM

Hi guys, I am New to Linux

My doubt is

if a user is not entitled to edit a passwd file in the /etc/passwd

how come? the passwd command edits the File. (i.e) How can a command like passwd
change the passed of the user for which the user does not have write permission ?

adamwenner · 01-17-2005, 12:01 AM

passwords are no longer stored in /etc/passwd

they are now stored in /etc/shadow

but regardless, passwd is a special script that allows a user to set his password, idk how it works to edit that file, but i bet it has something to do with it having root access or something

sunil_thaha · 01-17-2005, 12:16 AM

The passwd is a binary file.
And It has a stick bit the Permission is as follows

-r-s--x--x 1 root root 16336 Feb 14 2003 /usr/bin/passwd

Do you know how a script can have the root privilege assigned to it ?

adamwenner · 01-17-2005, 12:21 AM

no, sticky bit is the only way a piece of software can be run as root without necessarally knowing the root password

--adam

student04 · 01-17-2005, 01:04 AM

Only through the passwd command can normal users modify (and it's restricted) the /etc/shadow file.