Re: how recover a root pass in SCO Unix, I need some help.

Loki Harfagr wrote:
Le Thu, 27 Jul 2006 16:06:51 -0400, Chris Mattern a écrit :
Almost all systems require the root password to boot into single user
mode these days.

Is this something you could give any precision, documentation,
track to search about ?
Not that I'd be acting as a 'negationnist' but the idea just
looks quite counter-productive (that'd be in corp world, if
in the only mostly human real-mode I'd have said "this would
be like sawing the branch you're sitting on including the
chamber of the gun laying on it aiming at your balls (OK, *and foot*)
but your mileage may worry ?-)

Er, maybe was it some FUD seen on /. or AOL ?

It's generally quite true. For most UNIX(/LINUX/BSD) it's quite
commonly and typically the case that the root password is required to
boot into single user mode - at least when booting from the "normal"
default boot media (e.g. the installed operating system on the hard
drive). For security and other reasons this generally considered a
"good thing" ... well, at least more often than not. Some OS flavors
have ways of bypassing the password requirement to boot to single user
mode. For others, it's a configurable option. E.g., off the top of
my head, at least from memory:
SCO required
HP-UX default not required, commonly changed from default to require
Solaris required
LINUX highly configurable to require and be difficult to infeasible to
bypass when booting from the normal boot media, to being easy to
bypass and not requiring it; defaults vary by distribution

Most - and probably all - UNIX(/LINUX/BSD) implementations can have
the requirement bypassed - this typically requires booting from
alternate/alternative media (or partition, etc.) and/or access to
console and/or physical access to the hardware. From security basics
101, if the hardware is accessible, most all security (short of
strong encryption) can be bypassed. UNIX(/LINUX/BSD) is not
different in this regard. One generally can't determine what the
root password was (at least not easily and quickly and with
negligible resource use/consumption), but one can generally bypass it
(change or remove the root password). This generally requires access
to console and/or hardware to be able to boot off alternate media.
Some systems even include additional hardware/firmware/BIOS/EEPROM
protections to make it more difficult to easily boot from alternative
media. E.g. some have security options that won't allow booting from
alternative media/devices, without either entering some specific
password and/or removing the configured boot device (I know at least
some earlier Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC hardware included such
capabilities - not sure if those "features" are still present in the
most current hardware. Much modern-day x86 hardware has some similar
capabilities - such as ability to lock down under password control
any ability to boot from alternate devices/media).

Want some hard data on which ones do/don't require root password to
boot to single user mode? Do some searches on boot single user mode
for each operating system in question - in many cases you'll readily
find examples and/or documentation as to whether or not root password
is required - and digging a bit further, whether or not that is a
configurable option.

These questions might also be better asked/addressed/answered in:
news:comp.unix.admin
and/or
news:comp.security.unix

.

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