Linux – Can’t unlock linux user account

linuxopensusepasswordsuser-accounts

I've got a Linux box (OpenSuSE 11.3) with a locked-out user account. I logged in as the root account to unlock it with passwd -u <user>, but I get a message 'Cannot unlock the password for <user>!'

I tried changing the password to something new via passwd, but attempting to log in with this new password still gives the 'account has been locked due to x failed attempts' error message.

passwd -S gives status flags of 'PS' for the account. I don't recognise 'S', but at any rate it's not showing either 'L' (locked) or 'NP' (no password). /etc/shadow doesn't contain any weird characters like ! at the front of the line for this account. Looking at it in this distro's management app (YaST) appears to show that it isn't locked (the 'disable account' button is unchecked).

Where else do I need to check to see how and why this account is refusing to unlock/login?

Best Answer

I had this issue today. This was the fix.

pam_tally --user= --reset

Example

pam_tally --user=cyberninja --reset

I hope this helps someone.

I found this post looking for an answer to this exact question. I had the same error but on a SLES 11 SP2 server. My co-worker reset my password and tried to unlock my account with the command passwd -u. One of my other co-workers said I needed clear account in PAM and gave me the command. Which I have posted above.

Update,

I now have a fix that keeps this from happening again. It seems that there are two PAM files that where in conflict. These files are; /etc/pam.d/login and /etc/pam.d/sshd. Both files have this line.

auth required pam_tally.so onerr=fail deny=3

You must commit out, this line from one of the files listed above. We commented the line out in the /etc/pam.d/sshd file.

After you do this you should never have this issue again.

Related Solutions

Windows – “The user name or password is incorrect” when entering a correct password

One thing you can try is changing your password using the command-line,

Search for cmd, right-click and select Run as administrator
At the prompt, type
```
 net user 
```
and hit enter to make sure you know what your username is.
Next, type
```
 net user %username% 
```
and replace the variable username with your actual username. Check the password details and see if Password changeable returns Yes.
Finally, change your password. Type the following into the command prompt:
```
 net user %username% <new password>
```

You should see The command completed successfully.

The above should work. If, for any reason it does not, try running a sfc /scannow.

Edit: Response to Alexander Pozdneev I saw you used Ubuntu to fix your problem temporarily. Since you have Ubuntu, can you try these steps?

Open Ubuntu's file manager and navigate to the disk Windows is stored on
Go to C:\windows\system32 in the ubuntu file manager
Rename utilman.exe utilmanreal.exe and then rename cmd.exe utilman.exe
Next, rename utilmanreal.exe cmd.exe (so cmd and utilman have been swapped)
Reboot into Windows and click Ease of access. When your password doesn't work, try resetting using the same steps as posted originally (steps 2-4). Because it is using the system account, you may have different results.

Linux – How to unlock linux user after too many failed login attempts

You can view the failed logings with faillock

root# faillock --user username
username:
When            Type     Source     Valid
Timestamp 1     TTY      /dev/tty1  V
Timestamp 2     TTY      /dev/tty1  V
Timestamp 3     TTY      /dev/tty1  V

Reset them with the --reset-flag

root# faillock --user username --reset
root# faillock --user username
username:
When            Type     Source     Valid

Or, if you've found a way to access the filesystem (logging as root, or though a rescue disk or something):

Navigate to /run/faillock, this folder should contain a file with the locked username
Remove the file with the username to unlock rm /run/faillock/username

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows – “The user name or password is incorrect” when entering a correct password

Linux – How to unlock linux user after too many failed login attempts

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