[SSSD-users] pam_sss returns PAM_SYSTEM_ERR when entering wrong Kerberos password

Jakub Hrozek jhrozek at redhat.com
Sun Sep 9 14:03:39 UTC 2012


On Fri, Sep 07, 2012 at 05:44:59PM +0200, Joschi Brauchle wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I noticed a problem when using pam_sss (1.8.3) under OpenSUSE 12.2 +
> KDE and filed a bugreport there:
> https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=779246
> 
> When a Kerberos user enters a wrong password, a KDM "Critical error"
> message pops up (see link above for a screenshot).
> 
> In /var/log/messages, there is
> ------
> Sep  7 11:34:03 test-os122 [sssd[krb5_child[1102]]]: Decrypt integrity check
> failed
> Sep  7 11:34:03 test-os122 [sssd[krb5_child[1102]]]: Decrypt integrity check
> failed
> Sep  7 11:34:03 test-os122 kdm: :0[1085]: pam_sss(xdm:auth): system info:
> [Decrypt integrity check failed]
> Sep  7 11:34:03 test-os122 kdm: :0[1085]: pam_sss(xdm:auth): authentication
> failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=:0 ruser= rhost= user=testuser
> Sep  7 11:34:03 test-os122 kdm: :0[1085]: pam_sss(xdm:auth):
> received for user
> testuser: 4 (System error)
> ------
> 
> As far as I know, "decrypt integrity fails" is the default Kerberos
> error message for a wrong password. Hence, this is not a "System
> error", but rather an authentication error.
> 
> When looking at the code of "krb5_child.c", it seems like the
> default return code when checking the Kerberos TGT is
> "PAM_SYSTEM_ERR", which also gets returned in the event of a simply
> wrong password.
> 
> I guess, pam_sss should instead return "PAM_AUTH_ERR", is that correct?
> Has this been fixed in versions > 1.8.3?
> 

You are absolutely correct, nice catch Joschi.

It has not been fixed so, far, I have filed
https://fedorahosted.org/sssd/ticket/1515 to track this


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