PORT BUG: openssh 2.3.0p1 in Linux Slackware 7

[Ryan Moore]

I'm running a Slackware 7-based Linux distribution.  I had a problem using
openssh 2.3.0p1.  Slackware 7 uses shadow passwords.  Openssh picks up the
shadow password information correctly but doesn't encrypt the incoming
password properly so all password authentication fails.

The problem is that sshd *must* be compiled with the link flag
'-lcrypt' which includes libcrypt with the proper password crypt()
function.  Without '-lcrypt', a different crypt() function (from the C
library, I guess) is used which isn't compatible with the shadow password
suite distributed with Slackware.  In Slackware 7, libcrypt is in /lib so
no '-L' flags are needed.

I believe the solution is to have the configure script check for libcrypt
and link against it if it exists.  The ssh-1.2.27 distribution configure
script checks for this library and properly links against it, so it works
correctly.

Sorry, I can't provide any patches, but I'm not an autoconf expert.

I can produce debug output I added to auth-passwd.c showing the
differences in the behavior of the crypt() function if necessary.  Contact
me directly if you have any questions.

I'm using the openssh server with SecureCRT 3.1 under Windows.  So far,
everything looks compatible in both ssh1 and ssh2.  Great server!

Thanks for the support....

Ryan