How User Information is Stored on Your System

/etc/passwd

On almost all linux distributions (and commercial *nixes as well), user information is stored in /etc/passwd, a text file which contains the user's login, their encrypted password, a unique numerical user id (called the uid), a numerical group id (called the gid), an optional comment field (usually containing such items as their real name, phone number, etc.), their home directory, and their preferred shell. A typical entry in /etc/passwd looks something like this:

  pete:K3xcO1Qnx8LFN:1000:1000:Peter Hernberg,,,1-800-FOOBAR:/home/pete:/bin/bash
  

As you can see, it's pretty straight-forward. Each entry contains the six fields I described above, with each field separated by a colon. If this were as complex as user authentication got, there would be no need for this HOWTO.

Shadow passwords

Looking at your /etc/passwd, it's likely that you actually saw something like this:

  pete:x:1000:1000:Peter Hernberg,,,1-800-FOOBAR:/home/pete:/bin/bash
  

Where did the encrypted password go? Before I tell you where it went, a bit explanation is required.

The /etc/passwd file, which contains information about all users, including their encrypted password, is readable by all users, making it possible for any user to get the encrypted password of everyone on the system. Though the passwords are encrypted, password-cracking programs are widely available. To combat this growing security threat, shadow passwords were developed.

When a system has shadow passwords enabled, the password field in /etc/passwd is replaced by an "x" and the user's real encrypted password is stored in /etc/shadow. Because /etc/shadow is only readable by the root user, malicious users cannot crack their fellow users' passwords. Each entry in /etc/shadow contains the user's login, their encrypted password, and a number of fields relating to password expiration. A typical entry looks like this:

    pete:/3GJllg1o4152:11009:0:99999:7:::
   

/etc/group and /etc/gshadow

Group information is stored in /etc/group. The format is similar to that of /etc/passwd, with the entries containing fields for the group name, password, numerical id (gid), and a comma-separated list of group members. An entry in /etc/group looks like this:

   pasta:x:103:spagetti,fettucini,linguine,vermicelli
  

As you can see from the "x" in the password field, group passwords can be shadowed as well. Although groups almost never have their own passwords, it is worth noting that shadowed group password information is stored in /etc/gshadow.

MD5 encrypted passwords

Traditionally, unix passwords were encrypted with the standard crypt() function. (For more information on the crypt() function, see the crypt(3) manpage.) As computers grew faster, passwords encrypted with this function became easier to crack. As the internet emerged, tools for distributed the task of password-cracking across multiple hosts became available. Many newer distributions ship with the option of encrypting passwords with the stronger MD5 hash algorithm. (For more information on the MD5 hash algorithm, consult RFC 1321.) While MD5 passwords will not eliminate the threat of password cracking, they will make cracking your passwords much more difficult.

Sifting through the mess

As you can see, there are a number of different ways user authentication information can be stored on your system (shadow passwords without MD5 encryption, /etc/passwd passwords with MD5 encryption, etc.). How do programs like login and su know how to verify your password? Worse yet, what if you wanted to change the way passwords are stored on your system? How will programs that need your password know that passwords are stored differently? PAM is the answer.