On most Linux systems root can be obtained with the LD_PRELOAD environment variable: 1) Download the hacked libc.so.5 that spawns a shell when a call is made to crypt from http://www.rootshell.com and put it in a directory that you can remember like -> /var/tmp 2) Reboot the machine and when you see the LILO prompt, hit the SHIFT key and at the LILO boot: prompt type something like: LILO boot: linux LD_PRELOAD=/var/tmp/libc.so.5 3) When the Linux system boots, you might see a lot of warnings and errors - Just ignore them... 4) When you will get to a login prompt, ->If you are using Red Hat Linux, you *must* log in as a normal user and supply as correct password. ->If you are using Slackware Linux, you can type in a few random characters for the login and password. 5) At this point, you are now root. - BeastMaster V ======================================================================= This method is even easier than the one above ok, i found the easiest way to change a root passwd on a physically accessed machine is to apply the boot params "init=/bin/bash rw" ie if you use lilo, and your image is "linux" try linux init=/bin/bash rw this should drop you to a root shell. just edit your passwd file. and run "sync" before you reboot. =======================================================================