PAM_SET_ITEM(3PAM) PAM Library Functions PAM_SET_ITEM(3PAM)

NAME

pam_set_item, pam_get_item - authentication information routines for PAM

SYNOPSIS

cc [ flag ... ] file ... -lpam [ library ... ]
#include <security/pam_appl.h>

int pam_set_item(pam_handle_t *pamh, int item_type,
const void *item);


int pam_get_item(const pam_handle_t *pamh, int item_type,
void **item);

DESCRIPTION

The pam_get_item() and pam_set_item() functions allow applications and
PAM service modules to access and to update PAM information as needed.
The information is specified by item_type, and can be one of the
following:

PAM_AUSER
The authenticated user name. Applications that are
trusted to correctly identify the authenticated user
should set this item to the authenticated user name.
See NOTES and pam_unix_cred(7).


PAM_AUTHTOK
The user authentication token.


PAM_CONV
The pam_conv structure.


PAM_OLDAUTHTOK
The old user authentication token.


PAM_RESOURCE
A semicolon-separated list of key=value pairs that
represent the set of resource controls for application
by pam_setcred(3PAM) or pam_open_session(3PAM). See
the individual service module definitions, such as
pam_unix_cred(7), for interpretations of the keys and
values.


PAM_RHOST
The remote host name.


PAM_RUSER
The rlogin/rsh untrusted remote user name.


PAM_SERVICE
The service name.


PAM_TTY
The tty name.


PAM_USER
The user name.


PAM_USER_PROMPT
The default prompt used by pam_get_user().


PAM_REPOSITORY
The repository that contains the authentication token
information.


The pam_repository structure is defined as:

struct pam_repository {
char *type; /* Repository type, e.g., files, */
/* nis, ldap */
void *scope; /* Optional scope information */
size_t scope_len; /* length of scope information */
};


The item_type PAM_SERVICE can be set only by pam_start() and is read-only
to both applications and service modules.


For security reasons, the item_type PAM_AUTHTOK and PAM_OLDAUTHTOK are
available only to the module providers. The authentication module,
account module, and session management module should treat PAM_AUTHTOK as
the current authentication token and ignore PAM_OLDAUTHTOK. The password
management module should treat PAM_OLDAUTHTOK as the current
authentication token and PAM_AUTHTOK as the new authentication token.


The pam_set_item() function is passed the authentication handle, pamh,
returned by pam_start(), a pointer to the object, item, and its type,
item_type. If successful, pam_set_item() copies the item to an internal
storage area allocated by the authentication module and returns
PAM_SUCCESS. An item that had been previously set will be overwritten by
the new value.


The pam_get_item() function is passed the authentication handle, pamh,
returned by pam_start(), an item_type, and the address of the pointer,
item, which is assigned the address of the requested object. The object
data is valid until modified by a subsequent call to pam_set_item() for
the same item_type, or unless it is modified by any of the underlying
service modules. If the item has not been previously set, pam_get_item()
returns a null pointer. An item retrieved by pam_get_item() should not
be modified or freed. The item will be released by pam_end().

RETURN VALUES

Upon success, pam_get_item() returns PAM_SUCCESS; otherwise it returns
an error code. Refer to pam(3PAM) for information on error related return
values.

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(7) for description of the following attributes:


+--------------------+-------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Interface Stability | Stable |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|MT-Level | MT-Safe with exceptions |
+--------------------+-------------------------+


The functions in libpam(3LIB) are MT-Safe only if each thread within the
multithreaded application uses its own PAM handle.

SEE ALSO

libpam(3LIB), pam(3PAM), pam_acct_mgmt(3PAM), pam_authenticate(3PAM),
pam_chauthtok(3PAM), pam_get_user(3PAM), pam_open_session(3PAM),
pam_setcred(3PAM), pam_start(3PAM), attributes(7), pam_unix_cred(7)

NOTES

If the PAM_REPOSITORY item_type is set and a service module does not
recognize the type, the service module does not process any information,
and returns PAM_IGNORE. If the PAM_REPOSITORY item_type is not set, a
service module performs its default action.


PAM_AUSER is not intended as a replacement for PAM_USER. It is expected
to be used to supplement PAM_USER when there is an authenticated user
from a source other than pam_authenticate(3PAM). Such sources could be
sshd host-based authentication, kerberized rlogin, and su(8).

October 31, 2006 PAM_SET_ITEM(3PAM)