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sps
Asked: 2015-10-17 01:12:07 +0800 CST

how to check what incorrect password as attempted

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In /var/logs/auth.log I can see the unsuccessful login attempts. They are like lines below:

Oct 16 05:04:02 myMachine unix_chkpwd[15793]: password check failed for user (user1).

Now is there a way to see what password was tried exactly ? Is that information logged anywhere ?

I want to see the incorrect password that was attempted.

authentication

1 Answers

  1. No, and that would be a HUGE security issue. Last time I checked anyone with a login or physical access to the machine can access this log.

    I'm an untalented hacker and I want to elevate my rights on the machine: I would simply search the log for similar unsuccessful login attempt. Then I would be able to greatly improve the speed of a brute force attack.

    What is it exactly you want to achieve? Some guru might be able to find a witty workaround for you.

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