Getting "passwd: Authentication token manipulation error" when trying to change any password in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • Getting "passwd: Authentication token manipulation error" when running passwd <username>
  • Getting error message as "passwd: Authentication token manipulation error" for root when trying to change any user's password, including its own
  • Executing passwd <usrname> command as root giving following error:
passwd: Authentication token manipulation error

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • passwd

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