Bug 13365

Summary: gksu always asks for root password
Product: Mageia Reporter: nikos papadopoulos <nikos769>
Component: RPM PackagesAssignee: Mageia Bug Squad <bugsquad>
Status: RESOLVED OLD QA Contact:
Severity: major    
Priority: Normal CC: andr999
Version: 4   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Source RPM: gksu-polkit-0.0.3-0.git20131130.9.mga4.src.rpm CVE:
Status comment:

Description nikos papadopoulos 2014-05-12 14:20:50 CEST
Description of problem:
"gksu" always asks for a root password.

Then, why not just use "su" ?



Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):


How reproducible:


Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open the terminal and type: gksu xterm
2. In the pop-up window type the root password.

3. Open a new terminal session, and type: gksu xterm
4. Again, gksu will ask for the root password...

Reproducible: 

Steps to Reproduce:
Comment 1 nikos papadopoulos 2014-05-14 11:20:49 CEST
Tried the above with "beesu" instead of "gksu", and it is the same problem.
Comment 2 nikos papadopoulos 2014-06-09 20:45:19 CEST
Which means that the problem is most likely in the polikit or whatever handles these things.
Something doesn't allow these programs to act like they ought to.
Comment 3 Manuel Hiebel 2014-06-12 00:49:28 CEST
what's your polkit agent ?
Comment 4 nikos papadopoulos 2014-06-12 11:50:39 CEST
How can I find that?
Comment 5 nikos papadopoulos 2014-06-15 11:09:52 CEST
Furthermore, in IceWM, I have created a button, and when I click on it, the following command gets excecuted...
   beesu 'xterm -sb -geometry 122x10 -fg white -bg darkred'

The first time it asks for a password
If I click on it again, within a specific period of time
(could be 10-15 minutes or 30 minutes, I didn't count it),
 it won't ask for a password.

If I click on it after that period of time, it will, again, ask for a password.
Comment 6 andré blais 2014-09-06 17:18:53 CEST
gksu has another problem :
It doesn't respect the locale, but starts with the locale "ANSIX3.4-1868".
This is particularly annoying if one uses a locale with accents, especially if it is used to open a terminal or other application which frequently displays messages.  Accented characters get displayed as question marks.
Depending on the application (e.g. mate-terminal), it possibly could be reset, but that has to be done each time gksu is used.

The description in comment 5 about beesu seems to describe how gksu used to work.
As well as respecting the user's locale.

CC: (none) => andre999mga

Comment 7 nikos papadopoulos 2014-09-07 12:11:36 CEST
(In reply to andré blais from comment #6)
> 
> The description in comment 5 about beesu seems to describe how gksu used to
> work.
>


Just to avoid any misunderstanding...

The old Gksu didn't have any time limit.
You typed the password once, and that's it.
You, then, could use " gksu ANYCOMMAND ", and it would execute as root.

Now, there is a new gksu, but I think that it hasn't a time limit either.
And beesu doesn't mention any time limit in its website.
nikos papadopoulos 2014-09-07 12:13:07 CEST

Hardware: x86_64 => All

Comment 8 nikos papadopoulos 2014-09-07 12:13:43 CEST
The same in Mageia 4, 32 bit .
Comment 9 Samuel Verschelde 2015-09-21 13:19:59 CEST
Mageia 4 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2015-09-19. It is is no longer 
maintained, which means that it will not receive any further security or bug 
fix updates.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you plan to 
fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' to a later 
Mageia version.

Bug Reporter: Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we weren't 
able to fix it before Mageia 4's end of life. If you are able to reproduce it 
against a later version of Mageia, you are encouraged to click on "Version" and 
change it against that version of Mageia. If it's valid in several versions, 
select the highest and add MGAxTOO in whiteboard for each other valid release.
Example: it's valid in cauldron and Mageia 5, set to cauldron and add MGA5TOO.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's lifetime, 
sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a more recent Mageia 
release includes newer upstream software that fixes bugs or makes them obsolete.

If you would like to help fixing bugs in the future, don't hesitate to join the
packager team via our mentoring program [1] or join the teams that fit you 
most [2].

[1] https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Becoming_a_Mageia_Packager
[2] http://www.mageia.org/contribute/
Comment 10 Marja Van Waes 2015-10-27 06:57:16 CET
As announced over a month ago, Mageia 4 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2015-09-19. It is is no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further security or bug fix updates.

This issue may have been fixed in a later Mageia release, so, if you still see it and didn't already do so: please upgrade to Mageia 5 (or, if you read this much later than this is written: make sure you run a currently maintained Mageia version)

If you are able to reproduce it against a maintained version of Mageia, you are encouraged to 
1. reopen this bug report, by changing the "Status" from "RESOLVED - OLD" to "REOPENED"
2. click on "Version" and change it against that version of Mageia. If you know it's valid in several versions, select the highest and add MGAxTOO in whiteboard for each other valid release.
Example: it's valid in cauldron and Mageia 5, set to cauldron and add MGA5TOO.
3. give as much relevant information as possible. If you're not an experienced bug reporter and have some time: please read this page:
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_report_a_bug_properly

If you see a similar issue, but are _not_sure_ it is the same, with the same cause, then please file a new bug report and mention this one in it (please include the bug number, too). 


If you would like to help fixing bugs in the future, don't hesitate to join the
packager team via our mentoring program [1] or join the teams that fit you 
most [2].
[1] https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Becoming_a_Mageia_Packager
[2] http://www.mageia.org/contribute/

Status: NEW => RESOLVED
Resolution: (none) => OLD