pam.conf(4)

NAME

pam.conf — configuration file for pluggable authentication modules

SYNOPSIS

/etc/pam.conf

DESCRIPTION

pam.conf is the configuration file for the Pluggable Authentication Module architecture, or PAM. A PAM module provides functionality for one or more of four possible services: authentication, account management, session management, and password management.

An authentication service module provides functionality to authenticate a user and set up user credentials. A account management module provides functionality to determine if the current user's account is valid. This includes checking for password and account expiration, as well as verifying access hour restrictions. A session management module provides functionality to set up and terminate login sessions. A password management module provides functionality to change a user's authentication token or password.

Simplified PAM.CONF configuration file

The pam.conf file contains a listing of services. Each service is paired with a corresponding service module. When a service is requested, its associated module is invoked. Each entry has the following format:

service_name module_type control_flag module_path options 

Below is an example of the pam.conf configuration file with support for authentication, account management, and session management modules.

login     auth     required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1  debug
login     session  required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
login     account  required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
dtlogin   session  required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
other     auth     required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
other     password required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1

service_name: The service_name denotes the service (for example, login, or dtlogin). The keyword, other, indicates the module all other applications which have not been specified should use. The other keyword can also be used if all services of the same module_type have the same requirements. In the example above, since all of the services use the same session module, they could have been replaced by a single other line.
module_type: module_type denotes the service module type: authentication (auth), account management (account), session management (session), or password management (password).
control_flag: The control_flag field determines the behavior of stacking, and will be discussed in more detail below.
module_path: The module_path field specifies the pathname to a shared library object which implements the service functionality. If the pathname is not absolute, it is assumed to be relative to /usr/lib/security.
options: The options field is used by the PAM framework layer to pass module specific options to the modules. It is up to the module to parse and interpret the options. This field can be used by the modules to turn on debugging or to pass any module specific parameters such as a TIMEOUT value. It can also be used to support unified login. The options supported by the modules are documented in their respective manual pages. For example, pam_unix(5) lists the options accepted by the UNIX module.

Integrating Multiple Authentication Services With Stacking

When a service_name of the same module_type is defined more than once, the service is said to be stacked. Each module referenced in the module_path for that service is then processed in the order that it occurs in the configuration file. The control_flag field specifies the continuation and failure semantics of the modules, and may be required, optional, or sufficient.

The PAM framework processes each service module in the stack. If all required modules in the stack succeed, then success is returned (optional and sufficient error values are ignored). If one or more required modules fail, then the error value from the first required module that failed is returned.

If none of the service modules in the stack are designated as required, then the PAM framework requires that at least one optional or sufficient module succeed. If all fail then the error value from the first service module in the stack is returned.

The only exception to the above is caused by the sufficient flag. If a service module that is designated as sufficient succeeds, then the PAM framework immediately returns success to the application (all subsequent services modules, even required ones, in the stack are ignored), given that all prior required modules had also succeeded. If a prior required module failed, then the error value from that module is returned.

If a module does not exist or can not be opened, then the pam.conf entry is ignored and an error will be logged through syslog(3C) at the LOG_CRIT level.

Below is a sample configuration file that stacks the login, and dtlogin services.

login    auth    required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1. debug
login    auth    optional      /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1
dtlogin  auth    sufficient    /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1  debug
dtlogin  auth    required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1

In the case of login, the user is authenticated by the UNIX and inhouse authentication modules. The required keyword for control_flag requires that the user be allowed to login only if the user is authenticated by the UNIX service module. Inhouse authentication is optional by virtue of the optional keyword in the control_flag field. The user can still log in even if inhouse authentication fails.

In the case of dtlogin, the sufficient keyword for control_flag specifies that if the UNIX authentication check succeeds, then PAM should return success to dtlogin. The inhouse authentication module (the next module in the stack) will only be invoked if the UNIX authentication check fails.

Some modules may return PAM_IGNORE in certain situations. In these cases the PAM framework ignores the entire entry in pam.conf regardless of whether or not it is required, optional or sufficient.

Configuration Per User

pam.conf contains information to configure all the users on a system. But sometimes it is necessary to configure user by user. A user policy definition is made through a specific module named libpam_updbe.1. This module reads a file named /etc/pam_user.conf which describes the user's configurations.

Below is a sample configuration file (/etc/pam.conf) that uses the module libpam_updbe.1.

login    auth     required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
login    auth     required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
su       auth     required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
su       auth     required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
OTHER    auth     required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1

login    password required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
login    password required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
passwd   password required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
passwd   password required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
OTHER    password required      /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1

The module libpam_updbe.1 searches the configuration file /etc/pam_user.conf and reads the configuration associated with the login name of the current user. If there is no configuration concerning the current user in the pam_user.conf file, the PAM framework ignores the line containing libpam_updbe.1. The pam.conf applies for those users who are not configured in pam_user.conf.

NOTES

If an error is found in an entry due to invalid service_name, module_type, or control_flag, then the entry is ignored. If there are no valid entries for the given module_type, the PAM framework returns an error to the application.

EXAMPLES

The following is a sample pam.conf configuration file. Lines that begin with the # symbol are treated as comments, and therefore ignored.

#
# PAM configuration
#
# Authentication management for login service is stacked.
# Both UNIX and inhouse authentication functions are invoked.
login   auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
login   auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1  try_first_pass
dtlogin auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
dtlogin auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1  try_first_pass
#
# Other services use UNIX authentication
other   auth     required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
#
# Account management for login service is stacked.
# UNIX account management is required; inhouse account management is optional
login   account  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
login   account  optional     /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1
dtlogin account  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
dtlogin account  optional     /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1
other   account  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
#
# Session management
other   session  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
#
# Password management
other   password required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1

The following is a sample pam.conf configuration which uses the libpam_updbe.1 module to configure a user. Lines that begin with the # symbol are treated as comments, and therefore ignored.

#
# PAM configuration
#
# Authentication management for login service is stacked.
# Both UNIX and inhouse authentication functions are invoked.
login   auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
login   auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
login   auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1  try_first_pass
dtlogin auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
dtlogin auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
dtlogin auth   required   /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1  try_first_pass
#
# Other services use UNIX authentication
other   auth     required     /usr/lib/security/pam_unix.so.1
#
# Account management for login service is stacked.
# UNIX account management is required; inhouse account management is optional
login   account  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
login   account  optional     /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1
dtlogin account  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
dtlogin account  optional     /usr/lib/security/libpam_inhouse.1
other   account  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
#
# Session management
other   session  required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
#
# Password management
passwd  password required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_updbe.1
passwd  password required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1
other   password required     /usr/lib/security/libpam_unix.1

Utilities and Files

A list of utilities that are known to use PAM include: login, passwd, su, and dtlogin.

The PAM configuration file does not dictate either the name or the location of the service specific modules. The convention, however, is the following:

/usr/lib/security/libpam_service_name.x: Implements various function of specific authentication services.
/etc/pam.conf: Configuration file.
/usr/lib/libpam.1: Implements the PAM framework library.