[SOLVED] Administrative User vs Standard User

[Zorro007]

By default Root account is disabled. But the password during installation is same for both Admin account and Root account.

If I want to set another account, a Standard User, then what are the differences between the two?

I know Admin account can do system wide changes and Standard account can not. But when we install packages as a Standard user I still need the root password. Whats the point of using Standard account?

Suppose a malware or ransomeware attacks the Home folder, then it will affect both the Admin User's folder as well as Standard User's.

[rene]

By default Root account is disabled. But the password during installation is same for both Admin account and Root account.

No, by default user "root" does not have a password set (which is the very thing whereby the root account is disabled).

When you as an admin user authenticate you authenticate as yourself, i.e., with your own password. If you as a non-admin user are asked to authenticate you are asked to authenticate as an admin user, with said admin user's password. This is then to say that a non-admin user without possibility to identify as an admin user, i.e., not in possession of a password for an admin account, can not e.g. install software (system-wide).

Of course, anything any user has access to is vulnerable to anything done by/as said user.

The implementation difference between the two is on Ubuntu/Mint membership of UNIX-group sudo. Those that are can use the command sudo and are also the ones authentication as whom has polkit (i.e., GUI authentication) satisfied.

[Zorro007]

By default Root account is disabled. But the password during installation is same for both Admin account and Root account.

No, by default user "root" does not have a password set (which is the very thing whereby the root account is disabled).

When you as an admin user authenticate you authenticate as yourself, i.e., with your own password. If you as a non-admin user are asked to authenticate you are asked to authenticate as an admin user, with said admin user's password. This is then to say that a non-admin user without possibility to identify as an admin user, i.e., not in possession of a password for an admin account, can not e.g. install software (system-wide).

Of course, anything any user has access to is vulnerable to anything done by/as said user.

The implementation difference between the two is on Ubuntu/Mint membership of UNIX-group sudo. Those that are can use the command sudo and are also the ones authentication as whom has polkit (i.e., GUI authentication) satisfied.

I have used OpenSUSE before. There I experimented three different accounts.
Root, Admin, Standard user. But in linux mint you are saying that Root password is not set, then how am I able to go into root directory using Admin password?

And about software installation, there as a Standard user when I wanted to install a software it always asked Root password not the Admin password, not the Standard user password. Although after installation I found that software was available in all accounts. BTW I installed that from normal GUI software manager. So then how to install user specific software so that I do not mess with the system!

[rene]

And about software installation, there as a Standard user when I wanted to install a software it always asked Root password not the Admin password, not the Standard user password.

It extremely likely did not in OpenSUSE and certainly does not in Ubuntu/Mint. As said, by default a root password does not even exist in Ubuntu/Mint.

The root account always exists (it being "disabled" is to say it's disabled for login); the setuid executable sudo, i.e., while running as user "root", asks for your user password, and if you are a member of UNIX-group "sudo" elevates you to user "root" if done so successfully; polkit is more fine-grained but in the end does the exact same. It's possible to configure sudo to asks for the password of the switched-to user, normally then "root", rather than of the invoking user, but Ubuntu/Mint does not and I doubt OpenSUSE does or ever did.

It is in Linux not common to install "user specific software". You of course can if you install into ~/bin, ~/lib, so on, in your home-directory but this will generally involve manual compile/install of software: all repository software is system-wide (flatpak does know about the concept of user-specific installs).

In any case, as to what this thread asks, "admin" and "standard" users are no different other than through former's ability to "elevate", to become user "root", after authenticating as themselves, while latter can not.

[Cosmo.]

But in linux mint you are saying that Root password is not set, then how am I able to go into root directory using Admin password?

With the commands sudo (for terminal commands) or pkexec (for graphical programs). An admin account is allowed to use them, so after entering the admin's password the real command gets executed. If those commands do not get used or if the user does not belong to the admin group, the real command does not get executed.

So then how to install user specific software so that I do not mess with the system!

All software, which gets installed via the package management (e. g. via Software Manager) gets installed into the system and can get used by any user. Installing something "user specific" is only possible, if there exists an installer for the given software, which provides this method (or you compile yourself from source). But this is a bad idea, because the software gets in this case installed in user's home and the separation of rights, which is an important factor in all modern OS's, would not more secure this software and can make your system vulnerable.

[Hoser Rob]

It seems confusing to have 2 types of admin level accounts. The first answer here may help:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... -root-user

[Wakatakakage]

Just for clarification purposes, the openSUSE Security Guide states that

By default, sudo asks for the root password on SUSE systems.

openSUSE Leap 15.4 Security and Hardening Guide

[rene]

Just for clarification purposes, the openSUSE Security Guide states that

By default, sudo asks for the root password on SUSE systems.

openSUSE Leap 15.4 Security and Hardening Guide

Thank you, good to know. FWIW the Arch side of the Linux-scape does things the Debian/Ubuntu/Mint way, i.e., has OOTB sudo configured to ask for the invoking user's password.

[t42]

There is a wheel group in openSUSE still, it is absent by default in Ubuntu, so Ubuntu is "simpler" indeed...

[karlchen]

This is to all users, who may still have their doubts:

• Windows:
  On Windows, there is the Administrators group. The Administrators group has got 1 to n members. At minimum there is 1 member. It is named Administrator.
  The members of the Administrators group can do whatever they choose on a Windows system.
  Since UAC got introduced with Windows Vista, the members of the Administrators group by default work with a reduced set of the full rights. Whenever they need full Administrator rights, they have to confirm the UAC dialogue, thus elevating their rights.
  .
• Linux:
  On Linux, there is no Administrators group. There is only a single Superuser. Its name is root, user ID 0. There is also a user group named root, group ID 0. The only member of the user group root is the user root.
  User root is a perfect Highlander. There is only one at any point in time.
  .
  There is a user group named sudo. Users who are members of this user group sudo have got the right to execute commands and applications under the root account with the help of the commands sudo or pkexec.
  .
• Note the crucial difference to Windows:
  On Windows, a member of the Administrators group can elevate its privileges by confirming the UAC dialogue. The command or application will be executed under that member's account name.
  .
  In contrast, on Linux, a user, who is a member of the sudo group cannot elevate its privileges. Instead the commands sudo or pkexec can be used to execute a command or an application under the root account. The command will be executed by user root, not by the user, who used sudo/pkexec.
  .
• The source of confusion:
  One of the reasons, which helps keep alive new users misconception about user root and members of the user group sudo alive is that at some point in time some smart person had the idea to refer to the members of the user group sudo as Administrators or as Administrative Users.
  This fools a lot of users into assuming these Administrators were the same as Windows Administrators.
  No, they are not.

You may consider the differences
+ between the Windows Administrators Group and Privilege elevation on the one hand
+ and the Linux sudo group and executing commands/application as user root on the other hand
more or less academic. But in fact, by doing so you ignore the different ways how Windows and Linux manage users, groups and the privileges, which they have.

P.S.:
On Linux standard users are users, who are not members of the user group sudo.

(eom)

[Zorro007]

And about software installation, there as a Standard user when I wanted to install a software it always asked Root password not the Admin password, not the Standard user password.

It extremely likely did not in OpenSUSE and certainly does not in Ubuntu/Mint. As said, by default a root password does not even exist in Ubuntu/Mint.

The root account always exists (it being "disabled" is to say it's disabled for login); the setuid executable sudo, i.e., while running as user "root", asks for your user password, and if you are a member of UNIX-group "sudo" elevates you to user "root" if done so successfully; polkit is more fine-grained but in the end does the exact same. It's possible to configure sudo to asks for the password of the switched-to user, normally then "root", rather than of the invoking user, but Ubuntu/Mint does not and I doubt OpenSUSE does or ever did.

It is in Linux not common to install "user specific software". You of course can if you install into ~/bin, ~/lib, so on, in your home-directory but this will generally involve manual compile/install of software: all repository software is system-wide (flatpak does know about the concept of user-specific installs).

In any case, as to what this thread asks, "admin" and "standard" users are no different other than through former's ability to "elevate", to become user "root", after authenticating as themselves, while latter can not.

Yes , it is! In OpenSUSE during installation you can set root password and Admin paaasword different.

Thank you for the answer. flatpak is nice suggestion btw.

[Zorro007]

But in linux mint you are saying that Root password is not set, then how am I able to go into root directory using Admin password?

With the commands sudo (for terminal commands) or pkexec (for graphical programs). An admin account is allowed to use them, so after entering the admin's password the real command gets executed. If those commands do not get used or if the user does not belong to the admin group, the real command does not get executed.

So then how to install user specific software so that I do not mess with the system!

All software, which gets installed via the package management (e. g. via Software Manager) gets installed into the system and can get used by any user. Installing something "user specific" is only possible, if there exists an installer for the given software, which provides this method (or you compile yourself from source). But this is a bad idea, because the software gets in this case installed in user's home and the separation of rights, which is an important factor in all modern OS's, would not more secure this software and can make your system vulnerable.

Thank you for the answer

[Zorro007]

It seems confusing to have 2 types of admin level accounts. The first answer here may help:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... -root-user

Well, thanks. I read that here in the forum before.

[Zorro007]

This is to all users, who may still have their doubts:

• Windows:
  On Windows, there is the Administrators group. The Administrators group has got 1 to n members. At minimum there is 1 member. It is named Administrator.
  
  
  (eom)

Thank you for thia long info

[Zorro007]

So how can you elevate the security?

What is the point of having Admin account and Standard account if anyway we are going to use Root password for most of system wide changes?

How is Standard account better than Admin account (for security) if we need root password for most of things?

[t42]

How is Standard account better than Admin account (for security) if we need root password for most of things?

Consider things in context of multi-user system with different access level.

[rene]

What is the point of having Admin account and Standard account if anyway we are going to use Root password for most of system wide changes?

As said two times explicitly now, on Ubuntu/Mint a root password by default does not even exist and as such most certainly is not used.

Once again: an "admin user", on Ubuntu/Mint defined as a member of UNIX-group "sudo", has the ability to run programs "elevated", i.e., as user root, after authenticating as themselves, i.e., with their own user password. Non-admin users can not.

Obviously if a non-admin user is just a role of a user with also an admin user account then they still know the admin user's password and there's little effective difference: you may note that installation also does not create more than one admin user. Non-admin users you may feel free to add for example for spouse, children, whatever, and their point would be that they can then not make system-wide changes.

[JerryF]

So how can you elevate the security?

What is the point of having Admin account and Standard account if anyway we are going to use Root password for most of system wide changes?

How is Standard account better than Admin account (for security) if we need root password for most of things?

I don't think you grasped the concept.

When you as a Linux Administrator account needs elevated privileges, you are NOT using the root password. You are using your Administrator account's password to temporarily elevate your privileges because the account is in the sudo group.

If you sign in with a Standard account and try to perform something that needs elevated privileges, you as the Standard account would need to know the Administrator account's password.

Example:

Bill is set up with an Administrator account with password acb123.

Tom is set up with a Standard account with password xyz890.

If Bill logs in and then wants to perform something that needs elevated privileges, he would needs to enter his password abc123 (not the root password).

If Tom logs in and then wants to perform something that needs elevated privileges, he would be asked to select an Administrator's account (in this case it's Bill), and would need to enter Bill's password. If Tom tried his own password, he would be rejected to perform the task that needs elevated privileges because Tom doesn't belong to the sudo group.

[zcot]

Bill is assigned with groups: bill adm cdrom sudo dip plugdev lpadmin sambashare

Tom has: tom nopasswdlogin(an administrator should probably tailor this accordingly to the end goal usage)

root has groups: root

If Tom should be able to use usb sticks and optical drive stuff then he should get that assignment: tom cdrom plugdev

If you remove group participation sudo from Bill then it's scorched earth, UNLESS you had previously went ahead and assigned a password for root in which case you go digging in root, which I would say in my opinion is a bad design to run your system. The thing is that, getting into a root context can be much deeper than a single one-time limited-access privilege for a specific thing(installing a software, changing a group participation of a user) and it's also a potential minefield, and there's the additional thing of ok here's another different password, -numerous levels of leaning against that whole "digging in root" thing.

If Tom needs to do administrator stuff, then he should not be given Bills password, or in my opinion root should not get unlocked and then he gets roots password, -he should just be joined into the sudo group, and he will just directly use his own password every single time(like everybody else should be doing).

[Zorro007]

What is the point of having Admin account and Standard account if anyway we are going to use Root password for most of system wide changes?

As said two times explicitly now, on Ubuntu/Mint a root password by default does not even exist and as such most certainly is not used.

Once again: an "admin user", on Ubuntu/Mint defined as a member of UNIX-group "sudo", has the ability to run programs "elevated", i.e., as user root, after authenticating as themselves, i.e., with their own user password. Non-admin users can not.

Obviously if a non-admin user is just a role of a user with also an admin user account then they still know the admin user's password and there's little effective difference: you may note that installation also does not create more than one admin user. Non-admin users you may feel free to add for example for spouse, children, whatever, and their point would be that they can then not make system-wide changes.

Yeah, yeah. Chill dear. Thank you btw.