Lukreme,

Yes, you are right, this did start in 10.6 but was easily remedied by the 
following. NOTE: This only effects a locked screensaver.

The file that you want to edit is screensaver and is located at 
"/etc/pam.d/screensaver". 

When the file is open, it looks like this:

# screensaver: auth account
auth            optional                pamkrb5.so
auth            required                pam_opendirectory.so  nullok
account         required                pam_opendirectory.so
account         sufficient      pam_self.so
account         required                pam_group.so no_warn group=admin,wheel 
fail_safe
account         required                pam_group.so no_warn deny 
group=admin,wheel ruser fail_safe

You want to change this line:
account         required                pam_group.so no_warn group=admin,wheel 
fail_safe

To this:
account         sufficient              pam_group.so no_warn group=admin,wheel 
fail_safe

Save and all should be good. 

This allowed a tech to enter the tech user name and password to unlock a locked 
screensaver of  logged in account to perform maintenance that could not be 
performed within a different user account, such as the tech account. 

The problem with Lion, as you said, "but when the screensaver lock come up, 
there doesn’t appear to be anyway to enter the admin login and password"
Switching to a different user does us no good.

Do you work with Final Cut Pro workstations? 

We need to gain access to the actual editor (user) account to perform many 
tasks that cannot be performed from a different user account. Period.  Some 
maintenance could be done from the tech account I suppose... but not all.

The screensaver is locked to make it harder, albeit not impossible, for an 
outsider or client to look at an editors files or a running FCP. This in 
addition to many other security measures are taken to help protect our clients 
assets.

So, while this may be an "Improved Security Model" in Lion, it is not an end 
all - be all security measure that cannot be circumvented by someone who knows 
enough to circumvent it.  It has however become an inconvenience in this 
situation.

Thanks guys... your comments are truly appreciated.

On Oct 8, 2011, at 3:19 PM, LuKreme wrote:

> On 08 Oct 2011, at 10:52 , Karl Kuehn wrote:
>> I thought that the place to do this was always /etc/authorization, 
>> specifically in the system.login.screensaver section. If the entry there 
>> indicates you should be able to do this, and you can't, then it is a bug and 
>> you should report it as such.
> 
> Interesting, the rule for the screensaver is still set to 
> authenticate-session-owner-or-admin in /etc/authorization, but when the 
> screensaver lock come up, there doesn’t appear to be anyway to enter the 
> admin login and password short of clicking “Switch User”
> 
> <http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1149073> has no working 
> solution, though it does appear this started in 10.6, not 10.7.
> 
> And yes, it is an improved security model, as I suspected.
> 
> -- 
> Space Directive 723: Terraformers are expressly forbidden from
> recreating Swindon.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> MacOSX-talk mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/listinfo/macosx-talk

Admiral Motti: Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a 
useless gesture, no matter what technical data they have obtained. This station 
is now the ultimate power in the universe! I suggest we use it! 

_______________________________________________
MacOSX-talk mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/listinfo/macosx-talk

Reply via email to