Re: Emergency! please help with file system access issue

From: Kasper Dupont (kasperd@daimi.au.dk)
Date: 10/04/02 

From: Kasper Dupont <kasperd@daimi.au.dk>
Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 22:59:32 +0200

smg wrote:
>
> "TBS" <tony@novaits.com> wrote in message
> news:bzidnfatjaR1FACgXTWc2Q@News.GigaNews.Com...
> > A friend of mine recently passed away and I need to retrieve some files
> for
> > his widow of his linux box. Obviously I have full physical access to this
> > machine and I now need help on the easiest route to access those files. I
> > have no valid logon however. My friend was a security expert so I am sure
> > he had the system locked down pretty tight. I have about 5 months
> > experience using red hat and sco but that was some 4 years ago. Any help,
> > will of course be greatly apprecieated
>
> You could always try typing "linux 1" at the "LILO:" prompt when you
> reboot/powercycle
> the system. If he didn't disable this LILO boot option ..... assuming LILO
> is the boot loader ....
> you now have root access and can change the password(s).

Some systems are configured to ask for root password if you type "linux 1".
On those systems you can instead type "linux init=/bin/sh", but then you
have to remount the root filesystem readwrite before changing anything,
and remember to change it back to readonly before rebooting. AFAIR the way
to remount the root filesystem readonly is actually not using the ro
option, but rather to attempt an unmount of /.

>
> Check here for more ways to use LILO to get root access:
>
> http://www.insecure.org/sploits/lilo.linux.vulnerabilities.html
>
> Otherwise:
>
> Install the harddrive(s) in another linux box that you have root access on.

That is always an option unless the disk is encrypted. But it might be
easier to attempt a boot from another media (floppy or CD). This might
need to be enabled in the BIOS first, if the BIOS setup is password
protected you can usually delete the BIOS settings from the CMOS by
moving a jumper on the mobo. If you want to backup the CMOS settings
before erasing them...... well, you can do that from Linux if you have
root permissions. 

-- 
Kasper Dupont -- der bruger for meget tid på usenet.
For sending spam use mailto:aaarep@daimi.au.dk
or mailto:mcxumhvenwblvtl@skrammel.yaboo.dk

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