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Description of problem:
pam_sss reports PAM_CRED_ERR when providing wrong password for an existing IPA user, but this error's description is misleading
Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
RHEL 6.10, RHEL 7.7 (haven't checked on RHEL 8)
How reproducible:
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Have an IPA server and an IPA client (both can be the same system RHEL 6.10 or 7.7).
2. Create a user in IPA with HBAC rules allowing him to login to the client (not sure if the rule is necessary).
3. Try to log into the client, providing the user's name but a wrong password.
Actual results:
In /var/log/secure on the client, pam_sss reports error "17 (Failure setting user credentials)", that is PAM_CRED_ERR.
Expected results:
pam_sss reports error PAM_AUTH_ERR ("Authentication failure").
Additional info:
PAM_CRED_ERR's description message, "Failure setting user credentials", suggest some internal error in the PAM&modules execution path when setting credentials for an already authenticated user.
This has led our teams many times to waste time debugging sssd and IPA server to diagnose users' access issues, thinking the problem lies there, while the actual issue was the user providing an incorrect password.
PAM_AUTH_ERR with its message "Authentication failure", instead, clearly states that the problem was at the authentication stage, so most probably the username and password did not match an existing account. This would make resolving such issues much faster thanks to the error message pointing to the problem area more clearly.
Reproducer:
~~~~~~~~~~~
version:
ipa-client-4.6.5-11.el7_7.4.x86_64
[root@client ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.7 (Maipo)
Steps:
1. Have an IPA server and client and add a user
2. Try to login to client using added user in 1 but with wrong password
3. see /var/log/secure
Actual result:
[root@client ~]# tail /var/log/secure
[..]
May 28 09:22:16 client sshd[4176]: pam_sss(sshd:auth): received for user testuser: 17 (Failure setting user credentials)
May 28 09:22:17 client sshd[4174]: error: PAM: Authentication failure for testuser from master.testrelm.test
May 28 09:22:55 client sshd[4180]: pam_sss(sshd:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=ssh ruser= rhost=master.testrelm.test user=testuser
May 28 09:22:55 client sshd[4180]: pam_sss(sshd:auth): received for user testuser: 17 (Failure setting user credentials)
May 28 09:22:57 client sshd[4174]: error: PAM: Authentication failure for testuser from master.testrelm.test
May 28 09:22:57 client sshd[4174]: Postponed keyboard-interactive for testuser from 10.0.153.118 port 59372 ssh2 [preauth]
Fix:
~~~~
version:
[root@client ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.9 Beta (Maipo)
ipa-client-4.6.8-3.el7.x86_64
[root@client ~]# tail /var/log/secure
[..]
May 28 09:44:45 client sshd[27014]: pam_sss(sshd:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=ssh ruser= rhost=client.testrelm.test user=testuser
May 28 09:44:45 client sshd[27014]: pam_sss(sshd:auth): received for user testuser: 7 (Authentication failure)
May 28 09:44:48 client sshd[27012]: error: PAM: Authentication failure for testuser from client.testrelm.test
May 28 09:44:50 client sshd[27017]: pam_sss(sshd:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=ssh ruser= rhost=client.testrelm.test user=testuser
Comment 12Krzysztof Lubański
2020-06-11 15:24:28 UTC
Many thanks to everyone involved! I am the original submitter of this RFE in RH support case #02594543 - and glad that it's apparently on its way to be released even in RHEL 7.9. :)
Comment 13Florence Blanc-Renaud
2020-06-15 12:26:02 UTC
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 (sssd bug fix and enhancement update), 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://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2020:3904
Comment 17Krzysztof Lubański
2020-09-30 08:13:43 UTC
Thank you, everyone! Can you tell me where I could also monitor the inclusion of the fix into RHEL 8.3 (sssd 2.2 series)? This ticket only has the RHEL 7.9 inclusion tracked (sssd 1.16 series).
AFAIK, it has been included in sssd 2.3 release, which will be included in RHEL 8.3.
Comment 19Krzysztof Lubański
2020-09-30 08:59:48 UTC
Thanks, Iker! Could you or someone else set this ticket to track that RHEL 8.3 version now? Or create another ticket for that purpose, if you want to keep this one CLOSED ERRATA (marking the RHEL 7.3 version done)?
Description of problem: pam_sss reports PAM_CRED_ERR when providing wrong password for an existing IPA user, but this error's description is misleading Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): RHEL 6.10, RHEL 7.7 (haven't checked on RHEL 8) How reproducible: Steps to Reproduce: 1. Have an IPA server and an IPA client (both can be the same system RHEL 6.10 or 7.7). 2. Create a user in IPA with HBAC rules allowing him to login to the client (not sure if the rule is necessary). 3. Try to log into the client, providing the user's name but a wrong password. Actual results: In /var/log/secure on the client, pam_sss reports error "17 (Failure setting user credentials)", that is PAM_CRED_ERR. Expected results: pam_sss reports error PAM_AUTH_ERR ("Authentication failure"). Additional info: PAM_CRED_ERR's description message, "Failure setting user credentials", suggest some internal error in the PAM&modules execution path when setting credentials for an already authenticated user. This has led our teams many times to waste time debugging sssd and IPA server to diagnose users' access issues, thinking the problem lies there, while the actual issue was the user providing an incorrect password. PAM_AUTH_ERR with its message "Authentication failure", instead, clearly states that the problem was at the authentication stage, so most probably the username and password did not match an existing account. This would make resolving such issues much faster thanks to the error message pointing to the problem area more clearly.