pam_xauth — PAM module to forward xauth keys between users

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DESCRIPTION

The pam_xauth PAM module is designed to forward xauth keys (sometimes referred
to as "cookies") between users.

Without pam_xauth, when xauth is enabled and a user uses the su(1) command to
assume another user's priviledges, that user is no longer able to access the
original user's X display because the new user does not have the key needed to
access the display. pam_xauth solves the problem by forwarding the key from the
user running su (the source user) to the user whose identity the source user is
assuming (the target user) when the session is created, and destroying the key
when the session is torn down.

This means, for example, that when you run su(1) from an xterm sesssion, you
will be able to run X programs without explicitly dealing with the xauth(1)
xauth command or ~/.Xauthority files.

pam_xauth will only forward keys if xauth can list a key connected to the
$DISPLAY environment variable.

Primitive access control is provided by ~/.xauth/export in the invoking user's
home directory and ~/.xauth/import in the target user's home directory.

If a user has a ~/.xauth/import file, the user will only receive cookies from
users listed in the file. If there is no ~/.xauth/import file, the user will
accept cookies from any other user.

If a user has a .xauth/export file, the user will only forward cookies to users
listed in the file. If there is no ~/.xauth/export file, and the invoking user
is not root, the user will forward cookies to any other user. If there is no ~
/.xauth/export file, and the invoking user is root, the user will not forward
cookies to other users.

Both the import and export files support wildcards (such as *). Both the import
and export files can be empty, signifying that no users are allowed.

OPTIONS

debug

    Print debug information.

xauthpath=/path/to/xauth

    Specify the path the xauth program (it is expected in /usr/X11R6/bin/xauth,
    /usr/bin/xauth, or /usr/bin/X11/xauth by default).

systemuser=UID

    Specify the highest UID which will be assumed to belong to a "system" user.
    pam_xauth will refuse to forward credentials to users with UID less than or
    equal to this number, except for root and the "targetuser", if specified.

targetuser=UID

    Specify a single target UID which is exempt from the systemuser check.

EXAMPLES

Add the following line to /etc/pam.d/su to forward xauth keys between users
when calling su:

session  optional  pam_xauth.so


IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

pam_xauth will work only if it is used from a setuid application in which the
getuid() call returns the id of the user running the application, and for which
PAM can supply the name of the account that the user is attempting to assume.
The typical application of this type is su(1). The application must call both
pam_open_session() and pam_close_session() with the ruid set to the uid of the
calling user and the euid set to root, and must have provided as the PAM_USER
item the name of the target user.

pam_xauth calls xauth(1) the source user to extract the key for $DISPLAY, then
calls xauth as the target user to merge the key into the a temporary database
and later remove the database.

pam_xauth cannot be told to not remove the keys when the session is closed.

AUTHOR

pam_xauth was written by Nalin Dahyabhai <nalin@redhat.com>, based on original
version by Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com>.

