# nuvious/pam-duress

A Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) which allows the establishment of alternate passwords that can be used to perform actions to clear sensitive data, notify IT/Security staff, close off sensitive network connections, etc if a user is coerced into giving a threat actor a password.

Repository: https://github.com/nuvious/pam-duress
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pam-duress
Language: C
License: LGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-07-16T06:27:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 74/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 92, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1838, "days_push": 48, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1410, forks 44 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:38.827596+00:00)

## What it is
A Linux Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) that lets users configure alternate 'duress' passwords which, when used under coercion, authenticate normally while silently executing predefined scripts. These scripts can wipe sensitive data, sever network connections, or alert security staff.

## Use cases
- set up a duress password that wipes sensitive files if I'm forced to unlock my machine
- alert IT security staff when a coerced password is entered
- close VPN or network connections automatically during a coerced login
- run hidden scripts on login with an alternate password on Linux
- protect a laptop from physical coercion attacks
- remove traces of the duress module after it triggers

## When to choose
- you need OS-level duress password protection on Linux (Debian, Arch, Red Hat)
- you want per-user or globally configured duress scripts with signed integrity hashes
- you need authentication to appear normal to an attacker while defensive actions run in the background

## When to avoid
- you are on macOS, Windows, or BSD rather than Linux
- you need a GUI-based security tool rather than a PAM module configured via scripts and CLI
- you want a full disk-encryption or endpoint-detection solution instead of a coercion-response mechanism

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: auth, security, alerting, plugin-system
- domain: security, operating-systems, privacy, developer-tools
- platform: cli
- tags: pam, duress-password, coercion-defense, authentication, c, linux-pam, linux

## Member repositories
- nuvious/pam-duress (main) score 74

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:38.827596+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:38:29.336287+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nuvious/pam-duress (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:38.827596+00:00, sha b3c0221b7702)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.