What does this error mean and can I fix it.

[Logu]

>
> This is true with OpenSsh 3.8p1 and OpenSsh 3.9p1.  I am running on Sun
> Solaris servers, both Solaris 8 and Solaris 9.
>
> I send all ssh syslog messages to local3 via the sshd_config file.  I
> periodically get in my error logs the line:
>
> Oct  4 15:29:36 wintermute sshd[14517]: [ID 800047 local3.error] error:
> Could not get shadow information for NOUSER
>
> I do not think this is interfering with any user.  I would like to get rid
> of these false positive errors, but I have not been able to track down
> what this error is stating.  Can any of you provide assistance in
> determining what this means.  Thank you.
>

I guess, this is because your system is not shadow passwd enabled but you
have the required tools for shadow passwd are installed. The shadow file
operation related calls like getspnam() act differently in different
systems. In some systems these calls falls back to checking /etc/passwd file
when /etc/shadow is not available and in some they dont. Hence a check for
the status of the system (shadow passwd enabled or disabled) in the code
will be helpful.

-Logu