Accidentally Changed File Ownership to Include a "Comment" [AIX]

 
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Homework and Emergencies Emergency UNIX and Linux Support Accidentally Changed File Ownership to Include a "Comment" [AIX]
# 8  
Old 10-05-2012
Yes, I agree, it's seeing # Scott from the /etc/passwd as the userid of the UID lookup from that file.

If you know the root userid password and can login as God then you should be able to change ownership of any files (single or recursive) by using a UID only, for example:

Code:
 
chown 3645 <filename>

The 3645 should appear in /etc/passwd as a valid UID of a user.

(You could change it to any UID number of your choice (not a valid user) but this may give you denied access later (which is what you've already done).

Login as God, use chown with a UID that matches up to a user in /etc/passwd.

Last edited by hicksd8; 10-05-2012 at 12:26 PM..
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# 9  
Old 10-05-2012
Just a tip. When I disable accounts on AIX, the following works:

Code:
chuser account_lock=true <user>

to verify:
lsusuer -a account_locked <user>
<user> account_locked=true

to remove lock:
chuser account_lock=false

Toss into a loop if tons of user accounts and you're good to go.
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# 10  
Old 10-05-2012
I was just surprised that it still took the UID from the passwd entry, even though the line was commented out.
# 11  
Old 10-05-2012
Shows that if # is used in passwd file , it does comment out but also changes the user's name hehe.. I like the idea of minus sign after...

Last edited by vbe; 10-05-2012 at 12:42 PM.. Reason: frenglish correction, not sure is more clear though
# 12  
Old 10-05-2012
Hey where did you loose 20'000 bits? It seems to only give the ordinary 300...( Or is it for Neo Smilie )
# 13  
Old 10-05-2012
LOL. That's the cost of creating a thread here. Maybe I should move it to the "Unix for Dummies" forum Smilie
# 14  
Old 10-06-2012
getpwuid() reads /etc/passwd to translate the struct stat
Code:
uid_t st_uid

into a username - parses the file using : as a field sep. Using # to "comment out" lines in /etc/passwd
is non-standard so you confused getpwuid() into returning '# scott' as the the username.
If the account really no longer existed you would see a numeric uid because translation failed. Like when you tar from a foreign system.

I never had to to do tentative user remove like that.
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