How to reset password of local user without using root account

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • Unable to reset password for a local user via the chpasswd command.
  • Attempted to grant password reset permissions to a non-root user, but unable to execute successfully.
  • Need to reset the root password without access to the root account.
  • Looking for an alternative to the passwd command for resetting local account passwords

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Local user accounts managed via /etc/passwd
  • PAM authentication in use
  • sudo configured for least-privilege access

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