Stig Bull wrote:

> The /etc/passwd entry is:
> test:x:105:1::/home/test/:/bin/sh and the /etc/shadow entry is:
> test:*LK*:::::::
>
> Now if I remove *LK*: from /etc/shadow, I can change the password, but
> if I try changing it again I get permission denied. Nothing turns up in
> the logs and this is extremely annoying (although I have the
> aforementioned workaround) because I can't figure out what's wrong.
>
> Anyone has an idea?

The LK string means "locked", the account is closed. See manpage for
"passwd" in section 1 for more explanation. The 'x' in passwd means
it's using the shadow file for passwords.

After you change the password, does the shadow file get updated with
the encrypted password string?

/Marcin