Viewing etc shadow - Zacham17/my-tech-journal GitHub Wiki

Viewing and Reading /etc/shadow Entries

The /etc/shadow file can be overwhelming to read at first, but once you understand the format, it can be easy to read and understand.
An average shadow file entry follows this format:
- username:$algorithm_id$hash_salt$hashed_password:Last_Password_Change:min_btwn_passchanges:max_btwn_passchanges:days_b4_warn:days_b4_account_disabled_after_passexpires:days_to_account_expire```
  - A $ is used to separate each field
- An example shadow entry with that format is galadriel:$6$poPWvLT/CfA/sxS/$lHbu1oMqRV2aM18fkFPbJw25U2.POqhonSmaUpbzPIPVKl2IxS86Qq8q9v3fYu5Y6qlWwbmqekbL3g1vtPmlQ/:19143:0:99999:7:::
- In this entry:
  - galadriel: is the user
  - 6: is the hashing algorithm id
  - poPWvLT/CfA/sxS/: is the salt
  - lHbu1oMqRV2aM18fkFPbJw25U2.POqhonSmaUpbzPIPVKl2IxS86Qq8q9v3fYu5Y6qlWwbmqekbL3g1vtPmlQ/: is the hashed password
  - 19143: is the days since the last password change
  - 0: is the minimum number of days between password changes
  - 99999: is the maximum days between password changes
  - 7: is the number if days before the password expires that the user will be warned
Other fields can be added to a shadow entry
For example the "rounds" field can be added, which says how many rounds were used when hashing the password.
The following entry shows the same shadow entry with the rounds field included: galadriel:$6$rounds=1000$poPWvLT/CfA/sxS/$lHbu1oMqRV2aM18fkFPbJw25U2.POqhonSmaUpbzPIPVKl2IxS86Qq8q9v3fYu5Y6qlWwbmqekbL3g1vtPmlQ/:19143:0:99999:7:::