[aclug-L] Re: Password of wrong user got changed

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, if you use su, it can nab the user that invoked it instead of
root itself.  It is wise to always explicitly specify the username
when you use passwd.

Also, some versions of xlock will allow you to use the root password
to unlock any user's screen.

-- John

"Bates, Rod" <Rod.Bates@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> Can anybody explain what happened here? (This is Red Hat 5.2)
> 
> I logged on using my ordinary user name, typed "startx", and
> went to work.  Many days later, I changed my password in
> an xterm window.  I also went to a different xterm where I
> had logged on as root, using "su" and changed the root
> password.  
> 
> At the end of the day, I used lock screen.  Next day, I couldn't
> unlock it.  I tried lots of things, eventually trying the new _root_
> password, which got me in.  
> 
> So does typing "passwd" in an xterm  that is root change the
> password of the user the xterm first came up in?  What is going
> on here? 
> 

-- 
John Goerzen   Linux, Unix consulting & programming   jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx |
Developer, Debian GNU/Linux (Free powerful OS upgrade)       www.debian.org |
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The 1,078,371st digit of pi is 3.