UBUNTU On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Steve Muchai <smuchai@gmail.com> wrote:

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com> wrote:

...

Anyone with any Idea for unlocking this ? I have a pal with a netbook

running what?

BR, S

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@David that assumes the user is already a member of the sudoers file... First result I got on google with a simple search, dunno if it will work for ubuntu, but now i'm afraid of giving a keyboard to anyone close to my fedora boxes! (shudder) http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-hack-root-password-in-linu... On the comments there are tips for ubuntu hacking as well, haven't tried them though... On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com>wrote:

UBUNTU

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Steve Muchai <smuchai@gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com> wrote:

...

Anyone with any Idea for unlocking this ? I have a pal with a netbook

running what?

BR, S

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...

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Well, simple solution would be to disable the countdown for the grub menu, but woe unto you if you forget the root passwd! Edit the "timeout" line in /boot/grub/menu.lst Set it to 0 and the menu will not be shown. On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:29 PM, Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com>wrote:

@David that assumes the user is already a member of the sudoers file...

First result I got on google with a simple search, dunno if it will work for ubuntu, but now i'm afraid of giving a keyboard to anyone close to my fedora boxes! (shudder)

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-hack-root-password-in-linu...

On the comments there are tips for ubuntu hacking as well, haven't tried them though...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com>wrote:

...

UBUNTU

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Steve Muchai <smuchai@gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com> wrote:

...

Anyone with any Idea for unlocking this ? I have a pal with a netbook

running what?

BR, S

-- Sent from my socks® _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet

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...

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Yes the grub password protects against that hack...and FEW people know of it or use it for that matter...but the livecd way totally blows it out of the water as you still get login-less root access. On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:44 PM, i.G <i.georg@yahoo.com> wrote:

No worries about your passwd getting changed, ensure you have a GRUB passwd.

--- On *Fri, 3/26/10, Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com>* wrote:

From: Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] UNLOCKING PASSWORD IN ROOT DIRECTORY To: "Skunkworks Mailing List" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Date: Friday, March 26, 2010, 11:29 AM

@David that assumes the user is already a member of the sudoers file...

First result I got on google with a simple search, dunno if it will work for ubuntu, but now i'm afraid of giving a keyboard to anyone close to my fedora boxes! (shudder)

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-hack-root-password-in-linu...

On the comments there are tips for ubuntu hacking as well, haven't tried them though...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ajochola@gmail.com>

...

wrote:

...

UBUNTU

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Steve Muchai <smuchai@gmail.com<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=smuchai@gmail.com>> wrote:

...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ajochola@gmail.com>> wrote:

...

Anyone with any Idea for unlocking this ? I have a pal with a netbook

running what?

BR, S

-- Sent from my socks® _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet

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...

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For some tips... http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/tips-to-protect-linux-servers-physical-console... On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:59 PM, Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com>wrote:

FYI, setting a GRUB password means you have to be there physically to type in the password before it loads the GRUB entry you've protected.

Doesn't fit in for me since my servers are locked up somewhere remote and init 6 is the only way...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com>wrote:

...

Yes the grub password protects against that hack...and FEW people know of it or use it for that matter...but the livecd way totally blows it out of the water as you still get login-less root access.

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:44 PM, i.G <i.georg@yahoo.com> wrote:

...

No worries about your passwd getting changed, ensure you have a GRUB passwd.

--- On *Fri, 3/26/10, Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com>* wrote:

From: Haggai Nyang <haggai.nyang@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] UNLOCKING PASSWORD IN ROOT DIRECTORY To: "Skunkworks Mailing List" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Date: Friday, March 26, 2010, 11:29 AM

@David that assumes the user is already a member of the sudoers file...

First result I got on google with a simple search, dunno if it will work for ubuntu, but now i'm afraid of giving a keyboard to anyone close to my fedora boxes! (shudder)

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-hack-root-password-in-linu...

On the comments there are tips for ubuntu hacking as well, haven't tried them though...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ajochola@gmail.com>

...

wrote:

...

UBUNTU

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Steve Muchai <smuchai@gmail.com<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=smuchai@gmail.com>> wrote:

...

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ajochola@gmail.com>> wrote:

...

Anyone with any Idea for unlocking this ? I have a pal with a netbook

running what?

BR, S

-- Sent from my socks® _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke<http://us.mc455.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet

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...

------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke

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So where is the security in all of this? Yani I can't give someone access to my linux laptop/box and be confident he/she can't be the uber-admin? Physical security now remains the only safe bet, in addition to ssh and the like. So if your machine is stolen for critical info and your HDD is not encrypted, be very afraid, irrespective of the OS....? Sounds like child's play... :) On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:38 PM, Steve Muchai <smuchai@gmail.com> wrote:

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Alvin Jason Ochieng <ajochola@gmail.com> wrote:

...

UBUNTU

use a boot CD (most distros should work) and boot into rescue mode. Mount the HDD, edit /etc/passwd and zero out the password field.

BR, S

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During start up.(I.e when boot logo is display) press escape key to view menu. In some ubuntu distributions you have to press shift several times to view the menu. On the menu select recovery mode ussually the second option in most systems.Then choose drop to root shell prompt. On the konsole screen displayed type passwd new password to set the password then confirm(Note the konsole prompt should be some thing like root@hostname$ ). If it works type init 3 to go into runlevel 3. If the Gui is not displayed type startx(one word). viola you got a new password. Cheers