Password Recovery in Linux
 

Hi,

Can any one tell me, how to recover user or root password. not change from single mode.

Thanks & Regards,

There's no easy way to recover a password unless it's really idiotic. You can google and read about johntheripper, which is a tool that can be used to break passwd files. It's commonly used to ensure that there are no weak passwords on a given system.

You can, however, set a new password for any user if you are logged in as root. If you can't login as root and the single user mode is disabled, boot off a livecd, mount your / partition anywhere, chroot into it and then use the passwd command to set a new root password. Once you have that, you can login as root on your own system and change any user's password with "passwd <username>".

Passwords are stored on most systems using a one-way hash, so other than brute forcing it (as stated above), there isn't much you can do. This is by design.

I cannot think of a legitimate scenario where one would need to "break" the password rather than simply replace it. Could you explain why you cannot simply replace the password?

Actually, This stupid question was asked in the Interview.
See, I know that this is also wrong process. and not a good practice for system administrator.

Thanks, :-)

If you are an evil hacker and want to steal your friends' girlfriend's fotos from his PC without his knowledge.
This is pretty legitimate.

ciden

Just boot to a livecd, mount the hd, and steal away.