---
name: "securetty"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/securetty"
---

# securetty(5)

list of terminals on which root is allowed to login

## NAME

securetty - list of terminals on which root is allowed to login

## DESCRIPTION

The file */etc/securetty* contains the names of terminals (one per line, without leading */dev/*) which are considered secure for the transmission of certain authentication tokens.

It is used by (some versions of) [**login**(1)](/login/1.md) to restrict the terminals on which root is allowed to login. See [**login.defs**(5)](/login.defs/5.md) if you use the shadow suite.

On PAM enabled systems, it is used for the same purpose by [**pam\_securetty**(8)](/pam_securetty/8.md) to restrict the terminals on which empty passwords are accepted.

## FILES

*/etc/securetty*

## SEE ALSO

[**login**(1)](/login/1.md), [**login.defs**(5)](/login.defs/5.md), [**pam\_securetty**(8)](/pam_securetty/8.md)