default Guest account password unknown

[kubuntu.linux]

I just downloaded and installed Kubuntu 13.10 which has KDE 4.11.3. During the installation I was given a chance to pick my user name and password which works fine, this is of course an administrator account and I call the username "manager". I was never asked about Guest account during installation. After installation, on the login page, it shows the "manager" account as one login option that requires my password, and a Guest account that I can click and it logs in without a need to enter any password.

Now I am logged in Guest account, and I go to "System Settings > Account Details " and click change password (for Guest account) , it asks me for my current password. Remember there was no password when I logged in. Entering blank or my admin password does not work, as well as words like password, guest etc.
Where should I find the Guest account password?

However, there are more surprises.

1) While logged in the Guest account, I go to System Settings > User Manager. On the list of users I only see the "Manager" account, but not the Guest account. If I click the Manager account, the password field is empty, and when I click the password field the window for "New Password" pops. It does not ask for the current password, while I already have a password. This way, in the Guest account that I never created in the first place, I can set a password for the only admin account on the system without having to enter the admin password, while I cannot set a password for the Guest account itself, that does not require a password for login. Is this an expected behavior?

2) when I log in the "Manager" account (the only admin account on the system), under "System Settings > User Manger" I see only the "Manager" account on the list, there is no Guest account listed for me to be able to modify or delete.
How can I get control on the Guest account?

Thanks.

[SteveRiley]

This is a feature of LightDM, Ubuntu's X display manager. Because Kubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu, Kubuntu also uses LightDM.

There is no actual "Guest" account on the machine. Here is the complete user list on a freshly-installed 13.10 system:


The guest thing provided by LightDM is more accurately viewed as a guest session. It has no actual underlying system account, and nothing done while logged into this session is saved. If you want to remove the session from LightDM's list, you need to edit a configuration file.

1. Press Alt+F2 and enter kdesu kate /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

2. Enter your password when prompted.

3. At the bottom of the file, add this line:

allow-guest=false

4. Save the file and exit the editor.

5. Restart your computer.

[life0riley]

Hi kubuntu.linux, Welcome to Kubuntu Forums!

You can dissable to Guest account if you wish. Here is an older post.
How to disable the guest account

Uncheck Allow guest login

[SteveRiley]

Ah, thanks for that. I totally forgot about the LightDM settings module!

[life0riley]

...If you want to remove the session from LightDM's list, you need to edit a configuration file.

1. Press Alt+F2 and enter kdesu kate /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

2. Enter your password when prompted.

3. At the bottom of the file, add this line:

allow-guest=false

4. Save the file and exit the editor.

5. Restart your computer.

I did this just to see what I have in my configuration file.

[SeatDefaults]
allow-guest=false
autologin-guest=false
autologin-user=
greeter-session=lightdm-kde-greeter
user-session=kde-plasma

[VNCServer]
enabled=false

[XDMCPServer]
enabled=false

Thanks. I didn't know where the configuration file was.

[kubuntu.linux]

Thanks all for the responses, it worked. I just have one question. Using an account or session that does not have a password, does it pose any security risk. I mean from an external point of view not the local login. In other words, would it be easier for a hacker to access the computer from the internet utilizing the fact there is no password on this account or session?

[SteveRiley]

Nothing to worry about. The guest session is not a real account and LightDM doesn't run over the network, so there's no attack surface here.

[kubuntu.linux]

Great, Thanks.