I have seen this problem also, on Windows NT4 SP6. I had the same
solution -- back out my changes. I haven't had time to investigate what
is causing the problem but it starting occurring in one of the recent
releases of ssh in which privilege separation was added.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Len Giambrone [mailto:frodo@mit.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 4:18 PM
> To: cygwin@cygwin.com
> Subject: 1.3.12-4: editing /etc/passwd causes ssh to fail
>
>
>
> This is on an installation using setup today with the latest
> packages on
> archive.progeny.net. It's running Win2k Server. I think
> I've also verified
> this on my XP HE box at home.
>
> I can happily ssh into my box.
>
> $ ssh Administrator@foo
> Warning: Remote host denied X11 forwarding.
> Last login: Tue Oct 8 21:01:53 2002 from bar
>
> Administrator@LORIEN ~
> $
>
> Now, I add the user foo:
>
> Administrator@LORIEN ~
> $ net user foo bar /add
>
> I add the user to the password file
>
> Administrator@LORIEN ~
> $ mkpasswd -l -u foo >>/etc/passwd
>
> And now I can't ssh in anymore:
>
> $ ssh Administrator@foo
> Warning: Remote host denied X11 forwarding.
> Connection to foo closed.
> $ ssh Administrator@172.16.34.104
> Warning: Remote host denied X11 forwarding.
> Connection to 172.16.34.104 closed.
> $
>
> If I remove the new user foo, I can once again login:
>
> Administrator@LORIEN ~
> $ rm /etc/passwd; mkpasswd -l | grep -v ^foo >/etc/passwd
>
> $ ssh Administrator@foo
> Warning: Remote host denied X11 forwarding.
> Last login: Tue Oct 8 21:18:09 2002 from bar
>
> Administrator@LORIEN ~
> $
>
> Has anyone seen this before? Can someone please confirm or
> deny that this
> happens to them?
>
> -Len