In Linux, what does a password field value of 'x' in /etc/passwd indicate?

• A. Password hashes stored in /etc/shadow
• B. Password hashes stored in /etc/passwd
• C. Password hashes stored in /etc/security
• D. Password hashes stored in /var/log

Answer: (A)

In Linux, password hashes are stored in a separate file called /etc/shadow, while /etc/passwd remains readable by all users. Seeing a placeholder like 'x' in the password field of /etc/passwd indicates that the actual password hash is kept in /etc/shadow. This separation enhances security by restricting access to the hashes. The other locations mentioned aren’t used for storing password hashes on standard systems (shadow is the correct place, while /var/log is for logs and /etc/security isn’t the hash store).