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Xref: sserve comp.unix.bsd.misc:71 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:1407 Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.uwa.edu.au!classic.iinet.com.au!news.uoknor.edu!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!twpierce From: Tim Pierce <twpierce@midway.uchicago.edu> Subject: su root: who's in group "wheel"? X-Nntp-Posting-Host: kimbark.uchicago.edu Message-ID: <D92p8L.3xC@midway.uchicago.edu> Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator) Organization: Vinegar Cabal Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 08:09:33 GMT Lines: 18 I'm seeing this behavior under FreeBSD 2.0R, but as far as I can tell, none of it is specific to FreeBSD. When you attempt to su root, it appears that su determines whether you're in group 0 by calling getgrgid, which, in turn, looks only in /etc/group. In other words, if your entry in /etc/passwd identifies you as a member of the wheel group, but your uid is not listed explicitly in /etc/group, su will not consider you part of the wheel group, and not permit you to su to root. Is this a bug in getgrgid, or in su? Or is it a bug at all? (Sure looks that way to me.) -- By sending unsolicited commercially-oriented e-mail to this address, the sender agrees to pay a $100 flat fee to the recipient for proofreading services.