#1139212 openssh-server: pam_lastlog2(sshd:session): SQL error: database is locked

Package:
openssh-server
Source:
openssh-server
Description:
secure shell (SSH) server, for secure access from remote machines
Submitter:
Francesco Potortì
Date:
2026-06-28 07:43:02 UTC
Severity:
normal
Tags:
#1139212#5
Date:
2026-06-07 09:49:54 UTC
From:
To:
From time to time I see these two line in the auth.log:

pam_lastlog2(sshd:session): Failed to execute statement: database is locked
pam_lastlog2(sshd:session): SQL error: database is locked

These are part of a legitimate user's auth sequence which fails.  The user name is USER


sshd-session[1701679]: Accepted publickey for USER from 109.234.58.120 port 64709 ssh2: RSA SHA256:qVocyzOxy2cJBE0tcTZ3vxqJWmbjG7oNN5fOBX+Wp7M
sshd-session[1701679]: pam_unix(sshd:session): session opened for user USER(uid=1000) by USER(uid=0)
systemd-logind[1752]: New session '410904' of user 'USER' with class 'user' and type 'tty'.
sshd-session[1701691]: Accepted publickey for USER from 109.234.58.120 port 60272 ssh2: RSA SHA256:qVocyzOxy2cJBE0tcTZ3vxqJWmbjG7oNN5fOBX+Wp7M
sshd-session[1701691]: pam_unix(sshd:session): session opened for user USER(uid=1000) by USER(uid=0)
systemd-logind[1752]: New session '410905' of user 'USER' with class 'user' and type 'tty'.
sshd-session[1701691]: pam_lastlog2(sshd:session): Failed to execute statement: database is locked
sshd-session[1701691]: pam_lastlog2(sshd:session): SQL error: database is locked
sshd-session[1701703]: Received disconnect from 109.234.58.120 port 60272:11: disconnected by user
sshd-session[1701703]: Disconnected from user USER 109.234.58.120 port 60272
sshd-session[1701691]: pam_unix(sshd:session): session closed for user USER
systemd-logind[1752]: Session 410905 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.
systemd-logind[1752]: Removed session 410905.

#1139212#10
Date:
2026-06-07 18:30:32 UTC
From:
To:
Control: reassign -1 libpam-lastlog2

At first glance this looks as though it's most likely to be a bug in
pam_lastlog2, so I'm reassigning this bug there; sshd doesn't really
have any control over how pam_lastlog2 locks its database.  I'd be
prepared to believe this is an OpenSSH bug if somebody can show that
OpenSSH is misusing the PAM API somehow.

Thanks,