is my root password encrypted?

Question

Please note, I am new to ubuntu system and need some help.

My /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files have the following details:

/etc/passwd:
```
root:x:0:0:Super-User:/:bin/sh
```
/etc/shadow:
```
root:giPrt.M0Q66Yc:1:0:99999::::
```

I understand that the passwd file has the root password set to x which means it is encrypted as listed in shadow file. But the root password in the shadow file has a different format compared to the following format:

$1$ is MD5,
$2a$ is Blowfish,
$2y$ is Blowfish,
$5$ is SHA-256,
$6$ is SHA-512,
$y$ is yescrypt,

So, my question is, is my password stored as plain text "giPrt" in the shadow file and what is "M0Q66Yc"?

This question is similar to: How to decode the hash password in /etc/shadow. If you believe it’s different, please [edit] the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem. — user535733, Oct 12 '24 at 03:53
Plaintext means that if your password is 123abc, then you would see 123abc. So unless your password is giPrt, the answer is no, that isn't your plaintext password. — terdon, Oct 12 '24 at 13:51

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 12 '24 at 03:45

1

No passwords are stored in plain text anywhere on your system. All passwords in /etc/shadow are hashed (not encrypted).

Note that a stock install of Ubuntu from an install iso has the root account disabled, and it has no password at all. Best practice is to leave it that way.

answered Oct 12 '24 at 03:45

user535733

68,830

1

Thanks for your reply. I got it. Is there any way to recover this hashed password "giPrt.M0Q66Yc" to plain text? – chetan soni Oct 12 '24 at 03:50
You are asking https://askubuntu.com/questions/383057/how-to-decode-the-hash-password-in-etc-shadow See the answer there. – user535733 Oct 12 '24 at 03:52
It's a weird value though. Why doesn't it have one of the various $N$ ? – terdon Oct 12 '24 at 13:40

is my root password encrypted?

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