pam_wheel(8) — Linux manual page
PAM_WHEEL(8) Linux-PAM Manual PAM_WHEEL(8)
NAME
pam_wheel - Only permit root access to members of group wheel
SYNOPSIS
pam_wheel.so [debug] [deny] [group=name] [root_only] [trust]
[use_uid]
DESCRIPTION
The pam_wheel PAM module is used to enforce the so-called wheel
group. By default it permits access to the target user if the
applicant user is a member of the wheel group. If no group with
this name exist, the module is using the group with the group-ID
0.
OPTIONS
debug
Print debug information.
deny
Reverse the sense of the auth operation: if the user is
trying to get UID 0 access and is a member of the wheel group
(or the group of the group option), deny access. Conversely,
if the user is not in the group, return PAM_IGNORE (unless
trust was also specified, in which case we return
PAM_SUCCESS).
group=name
Instead of checking the wheel or GID 0 groups, use the name
group to perform the authentication.
root_only
The check for wheel membership is done only when the target
user UID is 0.
trust
The pam_wheel module will return PAM_SUCCESS instead of
PAM_IGNORE if the user is a member of the wheel group (thus
with a little play stacking the modules the wheel members may
be able to su to root without being prompted for a passwd).
use_uid
The check will be done against the real uid of the calling
process, instead of trying to obtain the user from the login
session associated with the terminal in use.
MODULE TYPES PROVIDED
The auth and account module types are provided.
RETURN VALUES
PAM_AUTH_ERR
Authentication failure.
PAM_BUF_ERR
Memory buffer error.
PAM_IGNORE
The return value should be ignored by PAM dispatch.
PAM_PERM_DENY
Permission denied.
PAM_SERVICE_ERR
Cannot determine the user name.
PAM_SUCCESS
Success.
PAM_USER_UNKNOWN
User not known.
EXAMPLES
The root account gains access by default (rootok), only wheel
members can become root (wheel) but Unix authenticate non-root
applicants.
su auth sufficient pam_rootok.so
su auth required pam_wheel.so
su auth required pam_unix.so
SEE ALSO
pam.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(8)
AUTHOR
pam_wheel was written by Cristian Gafton <gafton@redhat.com>.
COLOPHON
This page is part of the linux-pam (Pluggable Authentication
Modules for Linux) project. Information about the project can be
found at ⟨http://www.linux-pam.org/⟩. If you have a bug report
for this manual page, see ⟨//www.linux-pam.org/⟩. This page was
obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/linux-pam/linux-pam.git⟩ on 2023-12-22. (At
that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
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