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Thread: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cupertino, CA
    Beans
    5,092
    Distro
    Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

    HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    Q: I am a complete moron and forgot my password. How can I get back into my system?
    (Hey, YOU forgot it, I think that gives me the right to do some degrading before letting you back in!)

    A:
    1. Turn off your computer.
    2. Tap it 3 times
    3. Say your favorite magic word.
    ---- If that doesn't fix your problem, do the steps below...
    4. Turn your computer on.
    5. Press ESC at the grub prompt.
    6. Press e for edit.
    7. Highlight the line that begins kernel ........., press e
    8. Go to the very end of the line, add rw init=/bin/bash
    9. press enter, then press b to boot your system.
    10. Your system will boot up to a passwordless root shell.
    CAUTION: This is a FULL ROOT SHELL! You can damage your system if not careful!
    11. Type in passwd <username>. Set your password.
    12. Type in reboot.
    NOTE: steps 1-3 may help at this point.
    13. Bow down to me....
    Quote Originally Posted by tuxradar
    Linux's audio architecture is more like the layers of the Earth's crust than the network model, with lower levels occasionally erupting on to the surface, causing confusion and distress, and upper layers moving to displace the underlying technology that was originally hidden

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Beans
    17
    Distro
    Xubuntu 6.10 Edgy

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    what if i put a password on grub and i forgot that as well?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Beans
    369
    Distro
    Gutsy Gibbon Testing

    Exclamation Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    this doesnt look safe at all to me.
    If a hacker gets physical access to my ubuntu box, he will get a full-access root shell

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cupertino, CA
    Beans
    5,092
    Distro
    Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    Quote Originally Posted by fng
    this doesnt look safe at all to me.
    If a hacker gets physical access to my ubuntu box, he will get a full-access root shell
    Err, if a hacker gains physical access to any computer, it's just as good as compromised!

    Whether it's Linux or Windows or any other OS, there are always little backdoors. The most common is a Knoppix LiveCD: perfect for changing /etc/passwd , /etc/shadow, and the SAM file on XP (i.e. zero'ing out passwords, etc).

    the best way to guard against this "exploit" is to keep your computer safe (duh) and set up a GRUB password as a deterrent. Then again, a Knoppix LiveCD (or Ubuntu LiveCD) is an easy way to mount the hard drive and edit /boot/grub/menu.lst to remove the password (hint, hint, hint)!
    Quote Originally Posted by tuxradar
    Linux's audio architecture is more like the layers of the Earth's crust than the network model, with lower levels occasionally erupting on to the surface, causing confusion and distress, and upper layers moving to displace the underlying technology that was originally hidden

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Lancaster, Pennsylvania
    Beans
    147

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    set a bios password for startup. And assuming that they don't open your compy and reset the CMOS.... they won't get very far.
    "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Beans
    31

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    get lock on your box lock your room... lock everything

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Mobile, AL, USA
    Beans
    337
    Distro
    Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    Both my case's side panel and the front panel covering the drives and switches have locks, I have a BIOS password, I have a GRUB password, I have set sudo sessions to three minutes, and I have xscreensaver set to come on after five minutes and lock the screen.

    Not that I'm paranoid.
    $ whatis themeaningoflife
    themeaningoflife: not found

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Beans
    14

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    what about this problem:

    I was editing my /etc/sudoers file to remove firestarter and was talking to someone when i # the wrong line. Now I can't sudo anything.

    I #'ed the %admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

    I need to edit this file and of course I can't.

    # 1: (fail)
    I edited my GRUB with init=/bin/bash
    and once at the root prompt I nano /etc/sudoers
    I was unable to save the file...says its read only.

    Any advice?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cupertino, CA
    Beans
    5,092
    Distro
    Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    Read the instructions more carefully. You need rw before init=/bin/bash...
    Quote Originally Posted by tuxradar
    Linux's audio architecture is more like the layers of the Earth's crust than the network model, with lower levels occasionally erupting on to the surface, causing confusion and distress, and upper layers moving to displace the underlying technology that was originally hidden

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Beans
    33

    Re: HOWTO: Oh no! I forgot my password!

    I tried to change my password using System > Administration > Users and Groups, but when I tried to login again, it wouldn't let me. In order to rescue myself, I tried using this technique, but when I get to the root shell, my keyboard is non-responsive. What should I do now?

    EDIT:

    Okay, instead of typing

    Code:
    rw init=/bin/bash
    I typed

    Code:
    single
    and it worked fine.
    Last edited by rah; September 4th, 2005 at 08:19 AM.

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