1. I should have said "an enabled empty root password makes possible passwordless root login via ssh and the console". In other words, /etc/securetty and /etc/pam.d/common-auth need to be (mis)configured.
2. ssh public key logins are not disabled by the use of '!'. Eg: /etc/shadow root:!:14196:0:99999:7::: /var/log/auth.log Dec 15 18:17:59 sec-intrepid-amd64 sshd[5654]: Accepted publickey for root from 192.168.122.1 port 43391 ssh2 Dec 15 18:17:59 sec-intrepid-amd64 sshd[5654]: pam_unix(sshd:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) sshd_config has: PermitRootLogin yes RSAAuthentication yes PubkeyAuthentication yes PermitEmptyPasswords no ChallengeResponseAuthentication no #PasswordAuthentication yes -- root account has ! as default password https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/296841 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is a direct subscriber. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
