Root Password Reset Issue in NAPPAA

Products

• VMware vDefend Firewall
• VMware vDefend Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention

Issue/Introduction

Users are unable to reset the root password from SSH for NAPPAA 

Error : passwd: Module is unknown

Reset via Appliance Management works

 

Environment

NAPPAA 4.1.2 and previous versions

Cause

The root password reset issue was linked to an incorrect configuration in the /etc/pam.d/system-password file, particularly the use of pam_cracklib.so, which was either missing or improperly configured. This caused the password change command to fail.

 

Resolution

This issue is fixed in NAPPAA 4.2

Configuration changes were done to the /etc/pam.d/system-password file, particularly the replacement of pam_cracklib.so with pam_pwquality.so, which allows for smooth password resets.