24 Nov
2000
24 Nov
'00
5:30 p.m.
Lawrence LeMay wrote:
Assuming noone has set the prom security password, you could boot the
system with a known hardware problem, in an attempt to force the OS to
drop you into root. On much older hardware, and prior to sun prom
security passwords, the classic method was to unplug the keyboard, power
on the system, and when it dropped into root, plug the keyboard back in.
Nicheten worken with post 2.3. (5.2.3). Hardware faults won't get you
a root session in single user mode unless you're capable of supplying
the root password (which is fun when the problem is a hosed passwd or
shadow file).
Of course, the brute force answer is to reinstall the
system from scratch.
Or, install onto a different HD, and also connect and mount the hard
drive you have, and then edit the password file, and swap the drive back.
Jeez, if you've got the media to do that then all you have to do is boot off
CD, deal with the configuration dialog long enough to get to the point
where you can break out and get a shell, mount the root file system off
the existing drive and then hammer _both_ /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow
(this case sounds like /etc/passwd got modified but not the shadow file).
No need to install anything...
And yeah, I've done this more times than I care to count -- although
it ain't _nearly_ as bad as changing the boot controller on a Solaris
X86 system. That's a delightful journey to hell and back.
--
Chris Kennedy
chris(a)mainecoon.com
http://www.mainecoon.com
PGP fingerprint: 4E99 10B6 7253 B048 6685 6CBC 55E1 20A3 108D AB97