PAM_GROUP(8) Linux-PAM Manual PAM_GROUP(8)
NAME
pam_group - PAM module for group access
SYNOPSIS
pam_group.so
DESCRIPTION
The pam_group PAM module does not authenticate the user, but instead it grants group memberships (in the
credential setting phase of the authentication module) to the user. Such memberships are based on the service
they are applying for.
By default rules for group memberships are taken from config file /etc/security/group.conf.
This module's usefulness relies on the file-systems accessible to the user. The point being that once granted
the membership of a group, the user may attempt to create a setgid binary with a restricted group ownership.
Later, when the user is not given membership to this group, they can recover group membership with the
precompiled binary. The reason that the file-systems that the user has access to are so significant, is the
fact that when a system is mounted nosuid the user is unable to create or execute such a binary file. For this
module to provide any level of security, all file-systems that the user has write access to should be mounted
nosuid.
The pam_group module functions in parallel with the /etc/group file. If the user is granted any groups based
on the behavior of this module, they are granted in addition to those entries /etc/group (or equivalent).
OPTIONS
This module does not recognise any options.
MODULE TYPES PROVIDED
Only the auth module type is provided.
RETURN VALUES
PAM_SUCCESS
group membership was granted.
PAM_ABORT
Not all relevant data could be gotten.
PAM_BUF_ERR
Memory buffer error.
PAM_CRED_ERR
Group membership was not granted.
PAM_IGNORE
pam_sm_authenticate was called which does nothing.
PAM_USER_UNKNOWN
The user is not known to the system.
FILES
/etc/security/group.conf
Default configuration file
SEE ALSO
group.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(8).
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