Centos5.5 - Can't su - : incorrect password.

[johnrocs]

Hey all-

I don't know how I've managed to mess this one up, but in the midst of securing my webserver (ie. changing default SSH port, add new user, disable root SSH) I seem to have broken su functionality....somehow.

When I ssh as my user "lockdown" I attempt to "su -" and immediately am prompted with "su: incorrect password"

lockdown[ at ]bag [~]# su
su: incorrect password
lockdown[ at ]bag [~]#

I re-enabled root SSH login (via editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config) and I'm able to SSH as root no problem, however I can't su even from root to another user, getting the same behavior and error message..

root[ at ]bag [~]# su lockdown
su: incorrect password
root[ at ]bag [~]#

Here are my permissions for /bin/su ...

root[ at ]bag [/]# ls -l /bin/su
-rwSr-xr-- 1 root wheel 28336 Feb 28  2010 /bin/su*

My user "lockdown" is a member of the wheel group, and I haven't edit /etc/pam.d/su or system-auth at all.


Any input would be greatly appreciated, if more information is needed please let me know! Thanks a bunch..
- John

[MikeTbob]

That is indeed strange. Have you considered resetting the root password?
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...-password.html
I'm not sure it will help or if it even applies directly to your situation, just a thought.

[root99]

1.boot in single mode reset the password.
2.add you user in single mode to sudo ALL =ALL

[scentos]

Would that work without console access?

[root99]

you can't boot single mode without console access.