Manpages - pam_listfile.8

pam_listfile - deny or allow services based on an arbitrary file

pam_listfile.so item=[tty|user|rhost|ruser|group|shell] sense=[allow|deny] file=//path/filename/ onerr=[succeed|fail] [apply=[/user/|/@group/]] [quiet]

pam_listfile is a PAM module which provides a way to deny or allow services based on an arbitrary file.

The module gets the item of the type specified – user specifies the username, PAM_USER; tty specifies the name of the terminal over which the request has been made, PAM_TTY; rhost specifies the name of the remote host (if any) from which the request was made, PAM_RHOST; and ruser specifies the name of the remote user (if available) who made the request, PAM_RUSER – and looks for an instance of that item in the *file=*/filename/. filename contains one line per item listed. If the item is found, then if *sense=*/allow/, PAM_SUCCESS is returned, causing the authorization request to succeed; else if *sense=*/deny/, PAM_AUTH_ERR is returned, causing the authorization request to fail.

If an error is encountered (for instance, if filename does not exist, or a poorly-constructed argument is encountered), then if onerr=succeed, PAM_SUCCESS is returned, otherwise if onerr=fail, PAM_AUTH_ERR or PAM_SERVICE_ERR (as appropriate) will be returned.

An additional argument, apply=, can be used to restrict the application of the above to a specific user (*apply=*/username/) or a given group (*apply=*/@groupname/). This added restriction is only meaningful when used with the tty, rhost and shell items.

Besides this last one, all arguments should be specified; do not count on any default behavior.

No credentials are awarded by this module.

item=[tty|user|rhost|ruser|group|shell]

What is listed in the file and should be checked for.

sense=[allow|deny]

Action to take if found in file, if the item is NOT found in the file, then the opposite action is requested.

*file=*//path/filename/

File containing one item per line. The file needs to be a plain file and not world writable.

onerr=[succeed|fail]

What to do if something weird happens like being unable to open the file.

apply=[*/user/*|*/@group/*]

Restrict the user class for which the restriction apply. Note that with item=[user|ruser|group] this does not make sense, but for item=[tty|rhost|shell] it have a meaning.

quiet

Do not treat service refusals or missing list files as errors that need to be logged.

All module types (auth, account, password and session) are provided.

PAM_AUTH_ERR

Authentication failure.

PAM_BUF_ERR

Memory buffer error.

PAM_IGNORE

The rule does not apply to the apply option.

PAM_SERVICE_ERR

Error in service module.

PAM_SUCCESS

Success.

Classic ftpusers authentication can be implemented with this entry in /etc/pam.d/ftpd:

    #
    # deny ftp-access to users listed in the /etc/ftpusers file
    #
    auth    required       pam_listfile.so \
            onerr=succeed item=user sense=deny file=/etc/ftpusers
          

Note, users listed in etc/ftpusers file are (counterintuitively) /not allowed access to the ftp service.

To allow login access only for certain users, you can use a /etc/pam.d/login entry like this:

    #
    # permit login to users listed in /etc/loginusers
    #
    auth    required       pam_listfile.so \
            onerr=fail item=user sense=allow file=/etc/loginusers
          

For this example to work, all users who are allowed to use the login service should be listed in the file etc/loginusers. Unless you are explicitly trying to lock out root, make sure that when you do this, you leave a way for root to log in, either by listing root in /etc/loginusers, or by listing a user who is able to /su to the root account.

*pam.conf*(5), *pam.d*(5), *pam*(8)

pam_listfile was written by Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com> and Elliot Lee <sopwith@cuc.edu>.

Information about pam_listfile.8 is found in manpage for: required pam_listfile\&.so \e required pam_listfile\&.so \e