sh-2.05a# su USER bash-2.05a$ ps xa the password server isn't loaded again, and the system automatically load /hurd/pflocal /hurd/magic tty
Because su (the one from coreutils) does not use the password translator (atleast directly, don't recall the details); compared to login, which does. Try using the x command (an Hurdish su, but I don'r remeber if it is installed by default), you should be able to get the lovely authentication failure message there. =) To find the bug though you should compile things with debugging symbols and run the evil programs in gdb.
