bug#35806: Login passwords incorrect on some newly installed 1.0.1 systems

[pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)]

Login fails with

Login incorrect

on a system newly installed from the 1.0.1 ISO image — on only some
reinstalls.  Maybe it was my fault, but maybe not, it is kind of
spooky.  Can others reproduce?

The first time the password was correctly set to x in /etc/passwd and
in /etc/shadow the line looked normal.  Maybe I made a typo when
setting up the password?

I tried to reproduce with a less sensitive password “y” for root and I
believe an empty user password or maybe “y” too; now I got no user
entry in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow but can log in as root.

This was the content of /etc/passwd:

root:x:0:0::/root:/gnu/store/qn1ax1fkj16x280m1rv7mcimfmn9l2pf-bash-4.4.23/bin/bash
nobody:x:65534:997::/nonexistent:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder01:x:999:30000:Guix Build User  
1:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder02:x:998:30000:Guix Build User  
2:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder03:x:997:30000:Guix Build User  
3:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder04:x:996:30000:Guix Build User  
4:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder05:x:995:30000:Guix Build User  
5:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder06:x:994:30000:Guix Build User  
6:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder07:x:993:30000:Guix Build User  
7:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder08:x:992:30000:Guix Build User  
8:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder09:x:991:30000:Guix Build User  
9:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
guixbuilder10:x:990:30000:Guix Build User 
10:/var/empty:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
messagebus:x:989:983:D-Bus system bus 
user:/var/run/dbus:/gnu/store/dl8k19fivmv181d81lpn1nadsf219ky8-shadow-4.6/sbin/nologin
polkitd:x:988:982:Polkit daemon 
user:/var/empty:/run/current-system/profile/sbin/nologin

The content of /etc/shadow was

root:$6$vWBy92HZjt$P.g83qzyyuZ0AebfKjsS/gZV.1SlaMkUqsmsO9cP1yXtpsCIE.9gDNDtMVwZWa..wmvVNqjqgjg7OFhKadshF.:18036::::::
nobody:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder01:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder02:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder03:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder04:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder05:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder06:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder07:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder08:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder09:!:18036::::::
guixbuilder10:!:18036::::::
messagebus:!:18036::::::
polkitd:!:18036::::::

Maybe I turned off my computer at the wrong time when booting into the
installed system?  But the passwords get set up before the first boot,
don’t they?  I reinstalled again since then.  Now it works.

Regards,
Florian