What does star in passwd file mean

data-recoverypasswordusers

I have a computer that I need to boot into, but the passwords seem to be bogus. Additionally I can't mount the drive for writing, and it is a mips processor, so I can't stick it in another machine to run it.

Anyhow, they passwd file has some users that look like this, with a star after the user-name. does that mean blank password or what? 

root:8sh9JBUR0VYeQ:0:0:Super-User,,,,,,,:/:/bin/ksh
sysadm:*:0:0:System V Administration:/usr/admin:/bin/sh
diag:*:0:996:Hardware Diagnostics:/usr/diags:/bin/csh
daemon:*:1:1:daemons:/:/dev/null
bin:*:2:2:System Tools Owner:/bin:/dev/null
uucp:*:3:5:UUCP Owner:/usr/lib/uucp:/bin/csh
sys:*:4:0:System Activity Owner:/var/adm:/bin/sh
adm:*:5:3:Accounting Files Owner:/var/adm:/bin/sh
lp:VvHUV8idZH1uM:9:9:Print Spooler Owner:/var/spool/lp:/bin/sh
nuucp::10:10:Remote UUCP User:/var/spool/uucppublic:/usr/lib/uucp/uucico
auditor:*:11:0:Audit Activity Owner:/auditor:/bin/sh
dbadmin:*:12:0:Security Database Owner:/dbadmin:/bin/sh
rfindd:*:66:1:Rfind Daemon and Fsdump:/var/rfindd:/bin/sh

Best Answer

You have to check man passwd:

If the encrypted password is set to an asterisk (*), the user will be unable to login using login(1), but may still login using rlogin(1), run existing processes and initiate new ones through rsh(1), cron(8), at(1), or mail filters, etc. Trying to lock an account by simply changing the shell field yields the same result and additionally allows the use of su(1).

Usually accounts with * in password field don't have a password e.g: disabled for login. This is different to account without password which means the password field will be empty and which is nearly always a bad practice.

Related Question