PAM unable to resolve symbol: pam_sm_acct_mgmt This message means that a module that is being used for account management does not provide account management. The problem is that there is no way to easily tell which module is the culprit. A more useful message would be "PAM unable to load as account module: pam_module". As for the security flag if the administrator is counting on a module for account restriction and it doesn't he needs to know this.