Intermediate
Linux & Shell Scripting
Q52 / 100
What is the difference between "/etc/passwd" and "/etc/shadow"?
Correct! Well done.
Incorrect.
The correct answer is A) "/etc/passwd" contains basic user account information (username, UID, GID, home directory, shell) and is world-readable, while "/etc/shadow" stores the actual (hashed) password data and is restricted to root for security
A
Correct Answer
"/etc/passwd" contains basic user account information (username, UID, GID, home directory, shell) and is world-readable, while "/etc/shadow" stores the actual (hashed) password data and is restricted to root for security
Explanation
Separating password hashes into "/etc/shadow" (readable only by root) from the world-readable "/etc/passwd" (needed by many programs to look up user info) improves security by preventing unprivileged users from accessing password hashes.
Progress
52/100