pam_listfile 8 Linux-PAM Manual pam_listfile deny or allow services based on an arbitrary file pam_listfile.so item=[tty|user|rhost|ruser|group|shell] sense=[allow|deny] file=/path/filename onerr=[succeed|fail] apply=[user|@group] quiet pam_listfile is a PAM module which provides a way to deny or allow services based on an arbitrary file. The module gets the item of the type specified -- user specifies the username, PAM_USER; tty specifies the name of the terminal over which the request has been made, PAM_TTY; rhost specifies the name of the remote host (if any) from which the request was made, PAM_RHOST; and ruser specifies the name of the remote user (if available) who made the request, PAM_RUSER -- and looks for an instance of that item in the file=filename. filename contains one line per item listed. If the item is found, then if sense=allow, PAM_SUCCESS is returned, causing the authorization request to succeed; else if sense=deny, PAM_AUTH_ERR is returned, causing the authorization request to fail. If an error is encountered (for instance, if filename does not exist, or a poorly-constructed argument is encountered), then if onerr=succeed, PAM_SUCCESS is returned, otherwise if onerr=fail, PAM_AUTH_ERR or PAM_SERVICE_ERR (as appropriate) will be returned. An additional argument, apply=, can be used to restrict the application of the above to a specific user (apply=username) or a given group (apply=@groupname). This added restriction is only meaningful when used with the tty, rhost and shell items. Besides this last one, all arguments should be specified; do not count on any default behavior. No credentials are awarded by this module. item=[tty|user|rhost|ruser|group|shell] What is listed in the file and should be checked for. sense=[allow|deny] Action to take if found in file, if the item is NOT found in the file, then the opposite action is requested. file=/path/filename File containing one item per line. The file needs to be a plain file and not world writable. onerr=[succeed|fail] What to do if something weird happens like being unable to open the file. apply=[user|@group] Restrict the user class for which the restriction apply. Note that with item=[user|ruser|group] this does not make sense, but for item=[tty|rhost|shell] it have a meaning. quiet Do not treat service refusals or missing list files as errors that need to be logged. All module types (auth, account, password and session) are provided. PAM_AUTH_ERR Authentication failure. PAM_BUF_ERR Memory buffer error. PAM_IGNORE The rule does not apply to the apply option. PAM_SERVICE_ERR Error in service module. PAM_SUCCESS Success. Classic 'ftpusers' authentication can be implemented with this entry in /etc/pam.d/ftpd: # # deny ftp-access to users listed in the /etc/ftpusers file # auth required pam_listfile.so \ onerr=succeed item=user sense=deny file=/etc/ftpusers Note, users listed in /etc/ftpusers file are (counterintuitively) not allowed access to the ftp service. To allow login access only for certain users, you can use a /etc/pam.d/login entry like this: # # permit login to users listed in /etc/loginusers # auth required pam_listfile.so \ onerr=fail item=user sense=allow file=/etc/loginusers For this example to work, all users who are allowed to use the login service should be listed in the file /etc/loginusers. Unless you are explicitly trying to lock out root, make sure that when you do this, you leave a way for root to log in, either by listing root in /etc/loginusers, or by listing a user who is able to su to the root account. pam.conf5 , pam.d5 , pam8 pam_listfile was written by Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com> and Elliot Lee <sopwith@cuc.edu>.