PAM_ROOTOK

Section: Linux\-PAM Manual (8)
Updated: 11/25/2020
Page Index

NAME

pam_rootok - Gain only root access

SYNOPSIS

pam_rootok.so [debug]

DESCRIPTION

pam_rootok is a PAM module that authenticates the user if their UID is 0. Applications that are created setuid-root generally retain the UID of the user but run with the authority of an enhanced effective-UID. It is the real UID that is checked.

OPTIONS

debug

: Print debug information.

MODULE TYPES PROVIDED

The auth, account and password module types are provided.

RETURN VALUES

PAM_SUCCESS

: The UID is 0.

PAM_AUTH_ERR

: The UID is not 0.

EXAMPLES

In the case of the su(1) application the historical usage is to permit the superuser to adopt the identity of a lesser user without the use of a password. To obtain this behavior with PAM the following pair of lines are needed for the corresponding entry in the /etc/pam.d/su configuration file:

# su authentication. Root is granted access by default.
auth  sufficient   pam_rootok.so
auth  required     pam_unix.so

AUTHOR

pam_rootok was written by Andrew G. Morgan, <morgan@kernel.org>.