How to Make Linux Less Secure

Tagged with linux on August 2, 2024

Why would you want to make Linux less secure? I’m referring to password authentication only, not the rest of it. Some Linux enthusiasts are going to be angry at me, but I’m going to tell you how you can use Linux without having to enter your password more than once, which is during the login process.

Although I’m focusing on a distribution based on Debian or Ubuntu, some of this applies to other distributions as well. In normal circumstances, when you set up your system, you do everything as a standard user. If you need to use elevated permissions, you can use “sudo” or “su” to raise your authority temporarily when working from the command line.

Each of them requires entering a password. Your user password is used with “sudo” whereas the root password is used with “su”. If no password is set for the root account, “su” won’t even work. Disabling passwords while using “sudo” and while using the GUI (“Polkit”) should only be considered if you’re the only person with access to your system, and no one can remotely connect to it.

Disable the Sudo Password

You have to use “sudo” to disable the password for your user. From the terminal type:

sudo visudo

Go to the end of the file and enter:

username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Replace “username” with your actual username, of course. Exit the terminal and when you reenter the terminal, you will no longer have to use your password with “sudo”

Disable the GUI Password

At the terminal, enter:

sudo -s

Navigate to /etc/polkit-1/rules.d, create a file called “disable.rules”, and enter:

polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
    return polkit.Result.YES;
});

Reboot and the next time you use one of the GUI settings that would normally require a password to continue, you won’t be prompted to enter it. This includes the acts of installing and uninstalling software.

This Is Unsafe

Using “sudo” and the GUI settings without passwords is unsafe. Never do this in any kind of public environment, or even in a workplace where someone else can gain access to your system.

My computer is in my master bedroom and no one has access to it. It isn’t even powered on unless I’m in the room. I don’t have any ports open, and the firewall is engaged.

Image by [email protected] Larry Ewing and The GIMP, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. This article was updated on December 15, 2024.