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PAM_AUTHENTICATE(3)	     Library Functions Manual	     PAM_AUTHENTICATE(3)

NAME
     pam_authenticate -- perform authentication within the PAM framework

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <security/pam_appl.h>

     int
     pam_authenticate(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

DESCRIPTION
     The  pam_authenticate()  function attempts to authenticate the user associ-
     ated with the pam context specified by the pamh argument.

     The application is free to call pam_authenticate()  as  many  times  as  it
     wishes,  but some modules may maintain an internal retry counter and return
     PAM_MAXTRIES when it exceeds some preset or hardcoded limit.

     The flags argument is the binary or of zero or more of the  following  val-
     ues:

     PAM_SILENT 	 Do not emit any messages.

     PAM_DISALLOW_NULL_AUTHTOK
			 Fail if the user's authentication token is null.

     If any other bits are set, pam_authenticate() will return PAM_BAD_CONSTANT.

RETURN VALUES
     The pam_authenticate() function returns one of the following values:

     [PAM_SUCCESS]	 Success.

     [PAM_ABORT]	 General failure.

     [PAM_AUTHINFO_UNAVAIL]
			 Authentication information is unavailable.

     [PAM_AUTH_ERR]	 Authentication error.

     [PAM_BAD_CONSTANT]  Bad constant.

     [PAM_BUF_ERR]	 Memory buffer error.

     [PAM_CONV_ERR]	 Conversation failure.

     [PAM_CRED_INSUFFICIENT]
			 Insufficient credentials.

     [PAM_MAXTRIES]	 Maximum number of tries exceeded.

     [PAM_PERM_DENIED]	 Permission denied.

     [PAM_SERVICE_ERR]	 Error in service module.

     [PAM_SYSTEM_ERR]	 System error.

     [PAM_USER_UNKNOWN]  Unknown user.

SEE ALSO
     pam(3), pam_strerror(3)

STANDARDS
     X/Open  Single  Sign-On  Service (XSSO) - Pluggable Authentication Modules,
     June 1997.

AUTHORS
     The pam_authenticate() function and this manual page were developed for the
     FreeBSD Project by ThinkSec AS and Network Associates Laboratories, the Se-
     curity Research Division of Network  Associates,  Inc.  under  DARPA/SPAWAR
     contract  N66001-01-C-8035  ("CBOSS"),  as part of the DARPA CHATS research
     program.

     The OpenPAM library is maintained by Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@des.dev>.

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	  May 31, 2025		     PAM_AUTHENTICATE(3)

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