Bug 77143 – Can't run X programs as root when using sudo, but works fine w/ su

• Status: RESOLVED INVALID
• Product: Gentoo Linux

[Description Grant Goodyear (RETIRED) 2005-01-08 09:14:31 UTC]

When logged in as a normal user (w/ wheel and sudo access), when I use
su - to work as root I can run programs that connect to the X server, but
when I use "sudo su -" I cannot.  PAM issue?

$ sudo su -
# env | grep DISP || echo "not set"
not set
# gvim /etc/make.conf
E233: cannot open display
Hit ENTER or type command to continue
# export DISPLAY=:0
# gvim /etc/make.conf
Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
Xlib: No protocol specified

E233: cannot open displayXlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
Xlib: No protocol specified


Hit ENTER or type command to continue

[syslog entries, generated by initial sudo su -]
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst sudo:        grant : TTY=pts/4 ; PWD=/home/grant ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/su -
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst sudo:     PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; REMOTEHOST
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst PAM-env[20816]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <DISPLAY>
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst sudo[20816]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; DISPLAY
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst PAM-env[20816]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <XAUTHORITY>
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst sudo[20816]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; XAUTHORITY
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst su(pam_unix)[20816]: session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst su[20816]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; REMOTEHOST
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst PAM-env[20816]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <DISPLAY>
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst su[20816]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; DISPLAY
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst PAM-env[20816]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <XAUTHORITY>
Jan  8 11:35:26 dst su[20816]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; XAUTHORITY


$ su -
#  env | grep DISP
DISPLAY=:0.0
# gvim /etc/make.conf 
(works fine)

[syslog]
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su[20755]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; REMOTEHOST
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst PAM-env[20755]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <DISPLAY>
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su[20755]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; DISPLAY
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst PAM-env[20755]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <XAUTHORITY>
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su[20755]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; XAUTHORITY
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su(pam_unix)[20755]: session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su[20755]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; REMOTEHOST
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst PAM-env[20755]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <DISPLAY>
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su[20755]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; DISPLAY
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst PAM-env[20755]: Unknown PAM_ITEM: <XAUTHORITY>
Jan  8 11:33:09 dst su[20755]: PAM pam_putenv: delete non-existent entry; XAUTHORITY

# emerge pam -vp

These are the packages that I would merge, in order:

Calculating dependencies ...done!
[ebuild   R   ] sys-libs/pam-0.77-r4  +berkdb -debug -pwdb (-selinux) 0 kB

# emerge info
Portage 2.0.51-r8 (default-linux/x86/2004.3, gcc-3.4.3, glibc-2.3.4.20041102-r0, 2.6.9-gentoo-r9 i686)
=================================================================
System uname: 2.6.9-gentoo-r9 i686 AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2400+
Gentoo Base System version 1.6.8
Python:              dev-lang/python-2.3.4 [2.3.4 (#1, Dec  8 2004, 11:07:37)]
distcc 2.18.3 i686-pc-linux-gnu (protocols 1 and 2) (default port 3632) [disabled]
ccache version 2.3 [enabled]
dev-lang/python:     2.3.4
sys-devel/autoconf:  2.59-r6, 2.13
sys-devel/automake:  1.8.5-r2, 1.5, 1.4_p6, 1.6.3, 1.7.9, 1.9.3
sys-devel/binutils:  2.15.92.0.2-r2
sys-devel/libtool:   1.5.10-r2
virtual/os-headers:  2.6.8.1-r1
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86 ~x86"
AUTOCLEAN="yes"
CFLAGS="-pipe -O2 -mtune=i686"
CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3.2/share/config /usr/kde/3.3/env /usr/kde/3.3/share/config /usr/kde/3.3/shutdown /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/lib/X11/xkb /usr/lib/mozilla/defaults/pref /usr/share/config /usr/share/texmf/dvipdfm/config/ /usr/share/texmf/dvips/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/generic/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/platex/config/ /usr/share/texmf/xdvi/ /var/bind /var/qmail/control"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/env.d"
CXXFLAGS="-pipe -O2 -mtune=i686"
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
FEATURES="autoaddcvs autoconfig buildpkg ccache cvs distlocks sandbox sfperms"
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo"
LDFLAGS=""
MAKEOPTS="-j5"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/local/portage"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
USE="x86 3dnow X aalib acl alsa apm arts avi berkdb bitmap-fonts cdr crypt cscope cups dvd encode esd fam flac foomaticdb fortran gdbm gif gnome gpm gstreamer gtk gtk2 imagemagick imlib ipv6 java jpeg kde libwww mad mailwrapper mikmod milter mmx motif mozilla mpeg ncurses nls nptl oggvorbis opengl oss pam pda pdflib perl png python qt quicktime readline ruby sasl scanner sdl slang spell sse ssl svga tcltk tcpd tetex tiff truetype xml xml2 xmms xv zlib"


Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1.
2.
3.

[Comment 1 Grant Goodyear (RETIRED) 2005-01-08 09:15:38 UTC]

Oops, probably not actually a "baselayout" bug.  Reassigning to pam-bugs.

[Comment 2 Grant Goodyear (RETIRED) 2005-01-08 12:29:23 UTC]

Solar tells me that sudo now does an env_reset for security reasons.

This env reset can be disabled for people in %wheel by uncommenting the
# Defaults:%wheel   !env_reset
line in /etc/sudoers.  Also, use sudo su, not sudo su -.