pam_rootok - Gain only root access
pam_rootok.so [debug]
pam_rootok is a PAM module that authenticates the user if their UID is 0. Applications that are created setuid-root generally retain the UID of the user but run with the authority of an enhanced effective-UID. It is the real UID that is checked.
debug
Print debug information.
The auth, account and password module types are provided.
PAM_SUCCESS
The UID is 0.
PAM_AUTH_ERR
The UID is not 0.
In the case of the su(1) application the historical usage is to permit the superuser to adopt the identity of a lesser user without the use of a password. To obtain this behavior with PAM the following pair of lines are needed for the corresponding entry in the /etc/pam.d/su configuration file:
# su authentication. Root is granted access by default. auth sufficient pam_rootok.so auth required pam_unix.so
su(1), pam.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(7)
pam_rootok was written by Andrew G. Morgan, <morgan@kernel.org>.