An administrator needs to see a list of the system user's encrypted passwords. Which of the following Linux files does the administrator need to read?

The correct answer is A. /etc/shadow. '/etc/shadow' stores hashed (encrypted) user passwords and is readable only by root, providing a security layer. Historically, '/etc/passwd' stored password hashes, but modern Linux systems store only an 'x' placeholder there to indicate the real hash is in /etc/shadow…

Security

Question

Options

A/etc/shadow
B/etc/skel
C/etc/passwd
D/etc/pw

How the community answered

(23 responses)

A
96% (22)
B
4% (1)

Explanation

'/etc/shadow' stores hashed (encrypted) user passwords and is readable only by root, providing a security layer. Historically, '/etc/passwd' stored password hashes, but modern Linux systems store only an 'x' placeholder there to indicate the real hash is in /etc/shadow. '/etc/skel' is a skeleton directory used to populate new user home directories with default files - it contains no passwords. '/etc/pw' is not a standard Linux file and does not exist by default. An administrator must read /etc/shadow to access the actual encrypted password hashes.

Topics

#Linux security files#Password management#User accounts#/etc/shadow

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