Bug#966098: systemd: 'systemctl status' reports "access denied" after upgrade

Dima Kogan dkogan at debian.org
Thu Jul 23 02:13:48 BST 2020


Package: systemd
Version: 245.6-3
Severity: grave
X-Debbugs-Cc: none, Dima Kogan <dkogan at debian.org>

Hi. I'm running Debian/sid. Updating all the packages on my system put
apt into a broken state:

  root at snarky:/home/dima# apt install at 
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  You might want to run 'apt --fix-broken install' to correct these.
  The following packages have unmet dependencies:
   at : Depends: libfl2 (>= 2.5.33) but it is not going to be installed
  E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

  root at snarky:/home/dima# apt install libfl2
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
    linux-image-4.9.0-8-amd64
  Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it.
  The following additional packages will be installed:
    at
  The following NEW packages will be installed:
    libfl2
  The following packages will be upgraded:
    at
  1 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 41 not upgraded.
  30 not fully installed or removed.
  Need to get 0 B/152 kB of archives.
  After this operation, 153 kB of additional disk space will be used.
  Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
  Reading changelogs... Done
  Selecting previously unselected package libfl2:amd64.
  (Reading database ... 208134 files and directories currently installed.)
  Preparing to unpack .../libfl2_2.6.4-8_amd64.deb ...
  Unpacking libfl2:amd64 (2.6.4-8) ...
  Preparing to unpack .../at_3.1.23-1+b1_amd64.deb ...
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to retrieve unit state: Access denied
  Failed to stop atd.service: Access denied
  See system logs and 'systemctl status atd.service' for details.
  invoke-rc.d: initscript atd, action "stop" failed.
  dpkg: warning: old at package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
  dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to retrieve unit state: Access denied
  Failed to stop atd.service: Access denied
  See system logs and 'systemctl status atd.service' for details.
  invoke-rc.d: initscript atd, action "stop" failed.
  dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/at_3.1.23-1+b1_amd64.deb (--unpack):
   new at package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to retrieve unit state: Access denied
  Failed to start atd.service: Access denied
  See system logs and 'systemctl status atd.service' for details.
  invoke-rc.d: initscript atd, action "start" failed.
  Failed to get properties: Access denied
  dpkg: error while cleaning up:
   installed at package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   /var/cache/apt/archives/at_3.1.23-1+b1_amd64.deb
  E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

  dima at snarky:~$ sudo apt remove at
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
    linux-image-4.9.0-8-amd64
  Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it.
  The following packages will be REMOVED:
    at
  0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  30 not fully installed or removed.
  After this operation, 161 kB disk space will be freed.
  Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 
  dpkg: error processing package at (--remove):
   package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
   reinstall it before attempting a removal
  dpkg: too many errors, stopping
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   at
  Processing was halted because there were too many errors.
  E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

  dima at snarky:~# dpkg -r at
  dpkg: error processing package at (--remove):
   package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
   reinstall it before attempting a removal
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   at

  dima at snarky:~# dpkg -r --force-all at
  dpkg: warning: overriding problem because --force enabled:
  dpkg: warning: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
   reinstall it before attempting a removal
  (Reading database ... 208134 files and directories currently installed.)
  Removing at (3.1.23-1) ...
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to retrieve unit state: Access denied
  Failed to stop atd.service: Access denied
  See system logs and 'systemctl status atd.service' for details.
  invoke-rc.d: initscript atd, action "stop" failed.
  dpkg: error processing package at (--remove):
   installed at package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
  Failed to retrieve unit state: Access denied
  Failed to start atd.service: Access denied
  See system logs and 'systemctl status atd.service' for details.
  invoke-rc.d: initscript atd, action "start" failed.
  Failed to get properties: Access denied
  dpkg: error while cleaning up:
   installed at package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   at

  root at snarky:/home/dima# systemctl status 
  Failed to read server status: Access denied

Note the last bit: even "systemctl status" barfs. While I'm root. I
conjectured that a systemd upgrade broke it: the mass upgrade install
systemd 245.6-3. I then installed the last version sitting in my
/var/cache/apt/archives (systemd 239-15), and that brought the machine
back to a usable state.

Note that I'm filing this bug on the machine after the downgrade, so the
diagnostic files may not be fully instructive.

Thanks!


-- Package-specific info:
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-- System Information:
Debian Release: bullseye/sid
  APT prefers unstable-debug
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable-debug'), (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 5.3.0-3-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU threads)
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968) (ignored: LC_ALL set to C), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

Versions of packages systemd depends on:
ii  adduser          3.118
ii  libacl1          2.2.53-8
ii  libapparmor1     2.13.4-3
ii  libaudit1        1:2.8.5-3+b1
ii  libblkid1        2.35.2-8
ii  libc6            2.31-1
ii  libcap2          1:2.36-1
ii  libcryptsetup12  2:2.3.3-1
ii  libgcrypt20      1.8.6-2
ii  libgnutls30      3.6.14-2+b1
ii  libgpg-error0    1.38-2
ii  libidn11         1.33-2.4
ii  libip4tc0        1.8.2-2+b1
ii  libkmod2         27+20200310-2
ii  liblz4-1         1.9.2-2
ii  liblzma5         5.2.4-1+b1
ii  libmount1        2.35.2-8
ii  libpam0g         1.3.1-5
ii  libseccomp2      2.4.3-1+b1
ii  libselinux1      3.1-2
ii  libsystemd0      239-15
ii  mount            2.35.2-8
ii  util-linux       2.35.2-8

Versions of packages systemd recommends:
ii  dbus            1.12.20-1
ii  libpam-systemd  239-15

Versions of packages systemd suggests:
pn  policykit-1        <none>
pn  systemd-container  <none>

Versions of packages systemd is related to:
pn  dracut           <none>
ii  initramfs-tools  0.137
ii  udev             245.6-3

-- Configuration Files:
/etc/systemd/logind.conf changed:
[Login]
HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=ignore
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore


-- no debconf information


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