pam_rootok 8 Linux-PAM Manual pam_rootok Gain only root access pam_rootok.so debug pam_rootok is a PAM module that authenticates the user if their UID is 0. Applications that are created setuid-root generally retain the UID of the user but run with the authority of an enhanced effective-UID. It is the real UID that is checked. debug Print debug information. The auth, acct and password module types are provided. PAM_SUCCESS The UID is 0. PAM_AUTH_ERR The UID is not 0. In the case of the su1 application the historical usage is to permit the superuser to adopt the identity of a lesser user without the use of a password. To obtain this behavior with PAM the following pair of lines are needed for the corresponding entry in the /etc/pam.d/su configuration file: # su authentication. Root is granted access by default. auth sufficient pam_rootok.so auth required pam_unix.so su1 , pam.conf5 , pam.d5 , pam8 pam_rootok was written by Andrew G. Morgan, <morgan@kernel.org>.