su: cannot set groups: Operation not permitted

[sundarrajan]

Hi,
I am unable to login as root. As a normal user if i try su command, it gives the following error:

su: cannot set groups: Operation not permitted

I found that the command ls -ll gives:

-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24060 Mar 22 2007 /bin/su

but it must be -rwsr-xr-x

How do i do that without the root login.

Thanks in advance.

[gerald_clark]

Why can't you login as root?
You may have to boot the DVD in rescue mode to fix your problem.

[toracat]

I'm a bit concerned about the fact that /bin/su has such incorrect permission bits. What is the output of:

rpm -V coreutils

You do not need to be root to run this command.

[gerald_clark]

Been hacked?

[toracat]

Yes, that is a possibility (and my concern too).

[sundarrajan]

Not hacked for sure....

Here's the story.....

My gnome got crashed. Now i am using kde desktop. Some of the file permissions have changed automatically. I need to fix them back. So i need to login as root. KDE is working fine except the root login part.
I am using CENTOS 5.

rpm -V coreutils
.M...... /bin/basename
.M...... /bin/cat
.M...... /bin/chgrp
.M...... /bin/chmod
.M...... /bin/chown
.M...... /bin/cp
.M...... /bin/cut
.M...... /bin/date
.M...... /bin/dd
.M...... /bin/df
.M...... /bin/echo
.M...... /bin/env
.M...... /bin/false
.M...... /bin/link
.M...... /bin/ln
.M...... /bin/ls
.M...... /bin/mkdir
.M...... /bin/mknod
.M...... /bin/mv
.M...... /bin/nice
.M...... /bin/pwd
.M...... /bin/rm
.M...... /bin/rmdir
.M...... /bin/sleep
.M...... /bin/sort
.M...... /bin/stty
.M...... /bin/su
.M...... /bin/sync
.M...... /bin/touch
.M...... /bin/true
.M...... /bin/uname
.M...... /bin/unlink
.M...... c /etc/DIR_COLORS
.M...... c /etc/DIR_COLORS.xterm
.M...... /sbin/runuser


Thanks everyone.

I will try the rescue mode also.

[gerald_clark]

I don't believe gnome or KDE change permissions on anything.
Neither one would have any affect on a console login.
I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

[larka06]

You are barking up the wrong tree. You need to use "su -". That is su with a space then a dash.

[AlanBartlett]

[b] larka06[/b],

Please read this thread in its entirety [i]from the beginning[/i]. Your comment appended to the end of an old thread serves no useful purpose - unless it was to get yourself noticed. If that was the case - mission accomplished.