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Description of problem:
* passwd -l has different behavior than usermod -L
* The first command pushes two '!' characters in front of user password on /etc/shadow file, and the second puts only one.
* While those are different commands, this could lead to some confusion, in this case:
  - Lock the user with passwd -l user
  - Try to unlock the user with usermod -U user

* The latter removes only one '!' character, and this way the user still gets locked. You have to run usermod -U twice to unlock a user locked by passwd -l command, so it will remove both '!'.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
shadow-utils-4.1.5.1-13.el7.x86_64
passwd-0.79-4.el7.x86_64

How reproducible:
Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Lock the user with passwd -l user
2. Try to unlock the user with usermod -U user

Actual results:
The target user will still be locked.

Expected results:
Account should be unlocked.

Additional info:
* This behavior is also seen in RHEL6.
* passwd locked, passwd unlocked: OK
* passwd locked, usermod unlocked: FAIL
* usermod locked, usermod unlocked: OK
* usermod locked, passwd unlocked: OK

I'm prone to say that the passwd behavior is the desired one.

Check /etc/shadow contents; every disabled account has *two* exclamation marks, reflecting passwd behavior.

IMO, usermod has to be fixed.

Yes, this should be probably fixed in usermod at least in a way that the unlocking works. Whether it should also prepend double ! is debatable.

Since the problem described in this bug report should be
resolved in a recent advisory, it has been closed with a
resolution of ERRATA.

For information on the advisory, and where to find the updated
files, follow the link below.

If the solution does not work for you, open a new bug report.

https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2016-2322.html