Grrr Lost Backtrack 5 Root Pw

[badbass]

I have Backtrack 5 installed on a pc default password stopped working. I know the default pw is toor but it is not working. I googled this and they said it has something to do with a shadow file. What do I need to do boot to the live cd and replace this? There also is something about messing with grub dont know if this will help. Let me know if running the live cd and getting all the data as a worst case thing will work. Has this happened to anyone before.

[digip]

You can do one of two things. 1, boot alive cd, replace the shadow file (not recommended) or manually edit it to have no password or copy the same hashed password from a known system that uses toor as the password, - or - 2, change the boot setup and edit to to be rw and single user mode, to log on without requiring a password as root by default, then you will be logged in as root and just type passwd, change the password, then reboot.( http://www.debuntu.org/recover-root-password-single-user-mode-and-grub#comment-1489 )

I've actually had to do this before, and can't remember the exact steps I used with BackTrack, but it either of the above should do it.

[Infiltrator]

http://www.debuntu.o...ub#comment-1489 )

I've actually had to do this before, and can't remember the exact steps I used with BackTrack, but it either of the above should do it.

Yep, that's exactly what i had to do the other day, to reset my Backtrack password. That article Digip suggested, has all the steps outlined in it. Just follow them you can't go wrong.

The other option, would be booting a Live CD, mounting the partitions and then chrooting into it, to change the password, this would be the easiest one.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/reset-your-ubuntu-password-easily-from-the-live-cd/

[Jason Cooper]

I'm not saying that this is what happened, but have you considered that your root password stopped working because it was left as the default and someone else logged in and changed it? Really changing any default password should be the first thing on your lists when installing an OS.

[digip]

Yeah, as Cooper mentioned, everyone knows the default passwords for BackTrack, and almost no one changes them, and if they do, chances are, they're still running as root, and never bother to create a new user that requires sudo to use things. BackTrack for that reason, is why people use it as a live cd. You can still run passwd in the live cd environment too, just have to remember to do so every time you boot off it. Also, make sure you disable the SSH daemon unless you like people logging into your machine remotely(I can't remember if its on by default or non in BT5). By default, your hostname is also going to be be "bt" or "backtrack" depending which version you used(I think since 4 its been bt and I thing 3 and older used to be backtrack) Either way, when logged on, open a terminal, change the hostname to something else. Need to do it on each boot, or edit the stored hostname so its not bt on every boot. Otherwise, all your traffic on a network, shows your hostname as bt, and again, people knowing the default password for backtrack are going to know how to logon to it.