kcheckpass1

Usage

Overview

KCheckPass is KDE's authentication program. It is meant to be used by any software in need of user authentication, most notably screensavers.

It enhances security be the following means:

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It's only a small program, which is hopefully simple enough to allow it to be SUID root. Setting it to SUID root is necessary on Shadow Password systems.

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No other program in need of user authentication, must be SUID root.

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It provides a single implementation to check passwords. So one only must take a closer look at KCheckPass to ensure password security. It's much easier for programs using KCheckPass to preserve security.

Technique:

KCheckPass is a simple password checker. Just invoke and send it the password on stdin.

If the password was accepted, the program exits with 0;
if it was rejected, it exits with 1. Any other exit code signals an error.