1

I did a fresh install of Ubuntu 12.04.5 64-bit Desktop from ubuntu-12.04.5-desktop-amd64.iso and was shocked to find the login shell of numerous system accounts was set to /bin/sh instead of /usr/sbin/nologin or /bin/false (as in Ubuntu 14.04).

daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/bin/sh
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/bin/sh
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/bin/sh
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/bin/sh
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/bin/sh
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/bin/sh
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/bin/sh
uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/bin/sh
proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/bin/sh
www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/bin/sh
backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/bin/sh
list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/bin/sh
irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/bin/sh
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/bin/sh
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/bin/sh
libuuid:x:100:101::/var/lib/libuuid:/bin/sh

What is the reason for this?

Improve this question
1
  • This comes by default you can remove unused users or you can change shell to /usr/sbin/nologin or /bin/false this procedures is called security hardening
    – PKumar
    Mar 24, 2015 at 5:34

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

For instance, cronjobs. They need a shell to run.

See Post of Unix and Linux Why does the 'bin' user need a login shell?

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .