pam_securetty 8 Linux-PAM Manual pam_securetty Limit root login to special devices pam_securetty.so debug pam_securetty is a PAM module that allows root logins only if the user is logging in on a "secure" tty, as defined by the listing in /etc/securetty. pam_securetty also checks to make sure that /etc/securetty is a plain file and not world writable. This module has no effect on non-root users and requires that the application fills in the PAM_TTY item correctly. For canonical usage, should be listed as a required authentication method before any sufficient authentication methods. debug Print debug information. Only the auth service is supported. PAM_SUCCESS The user is allowed to continue authentication. Either the user is not root, or the root user is trying to log in on an acceptable device. PAM_AUTH_ERR Authentication is rejected. Either root is attempting to log in via an unacceptable device, or the /etc/securetty file is world writable or not a normal file. PAM_INCOMPLETE An application error occurred. pam_securetty was not able to get information it required from the application that called it. PAM_SERVICE_ERR An error occurred while the module was determining the user's name or tty, or the module could not open /etc/securetty. PAM_IGNORE The module could not find the user name in the /etc/passwd file to verify whether the user had a UID of 0. Therefore, the results of running this module are ignored. auth required pam_securetty.so auth required pam_unix.so securetty5 , pam.conf5 , pam.d8 , pam8 pam_securetty was written by Elliot Lee <sopwith@cuc.edu>.