Hardy, reseting password before first login does not work through GDM

[komputes]

I think I just found a bug having to do with resetting a password after installation.

Steps to reproduce:
1) Install Ubuntu Hardy from Live CD
2) While installing, create a password you cannot remember
3) Reboot from live CD to change /etc/shadow

from
username:$1$FU300xi1$PO.PhJV/QcM8LOYU88cVd/:13992:0:99999:7:::

to
username::13992:0:99999:7:::

4) Reboot from hard disk
5) Attempt to login through GDM login window: FAIL
6) Attempt to login through terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1): PASS

I am able to login through the terminal and run passwd to change the password and then everything is ok. But why would the terminal allow me to log in with no password and GDM would not. Please test this bug.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

thank you for your bug report, could you explain what those random changes are supposed to do and why that should allow to log in without authentification?

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Closing this bug report as no further information has been provided. Please feel free to reopen this bug if you can provide the information asked for. Thanks!.

[komputes (komputes)]

Hi Seb,

I was just doing some experimentation on a question I was asked about the shadow file. Why do you call these 'random' changes? I am only trying to understand why the instructions found here (2nd post) does not seem to work.

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/misc/26641-how-make-passwd-accept-blank-passwords.html

I'll be converting this to a question since it's obviously not a bug. I think I'm just not understanding something.

[komputes (komputes)]

Converted bug to question.

[komputes (komputes)]

Moved to https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+question/44991