Non-root user can not run crontab, getting error 'Authentication token is no longer valid; new one required' in /var/log/messages

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • User is unable to run jobs via crontab
  • Root user works fine, but non-root users get the following error message on running crontab:
12:09:35 server1 crond[12979]: Authentication token is no longer valid; new one required  
12:09:35 server1 crond[12979]: CRON ERROR: failed to open PAM security session: Success  
12:09:35 server1 crond[12979]: CRON ERROR: cannot set security context
  • crontabs for specific user don't get executed.
  • crontab command is failing with PAM errors.
  • Cronjobs do not appear to run for some users.
  • Changes have been made to /etc/pam.d/system-auth-ac which is causing failure of crontab command.

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • crond
  • pam

Subscriber exclusive content

A Red Hat subscription provides unlimited access to our knowledgebase of over 48,000 articles and solutions.

Current Customers and Partners

Log in for full access

Log In
Close

Welcome! Check out the Getting Started with Red Hat page for quick tours and guides for common tasks.