Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@bopm

bopm/revert-systemd-userdb-birthdate.patch

Forked from jeremytregunna/revert-systemd-userdb-birthdate.patch
Created March 19, 2026 22:23
Show Gist options

  • Select an option

    Learn more about clone URLs
  • Save bopm/b4668cf7d76b152eb326cb13c0c9baba to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Learn more about clone URLs
Save bopm/b4668cf7d76b152eb326cb13c0c9baba to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
Patch to revert systemd's userdb birthDate record bits. Valid as of 2026-03-19
Raw
revert-systemd-userdb-birthdate.patch
diff --git a/docs/USER_RECORD.md b/docs/USER_RECORD.md
index 5335e145b5..9d6d8c1d03 100644
--- a/docs/USER_RECORD.md
+++ b/docs/USER_RECORD.md
@@ -273,9 +273,6 @@ This must be a string, and should follow the semantics defined in the
It's probably wise to use a location string processable by geo-location subsystems, but this is not enforced nor required.
Example: `Berlin, Germany` or `Basement, Room 3a`.
-`birthDate` → A string in ISO 8601 calendar date format (`YYYY-MM-DD`) indicating the user's date
-of birth. The earliest representable year is 1900. This field is optional.
-
`disposition` → A string, one of `intrinsic`, `system`, `dynamic`, `regular`,
`container`, `foreign`, `reserved`. If specified clarifies the disposition of the user,
i.e. the context it is defined in.
diff --git a/man/homectl.xml b/man/homectl.xml
index bb827d1e6b..a59efd7112 100644
--- a/man/homectl.xml
+++ b/man/homectl.xml
@@ -366,16 +366,6 @@
<xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v245"/></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--birth-date=<optional><replaceable>DATE</replaceable></optional></option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Takes a birth date for the user in ISO 8601 calendar date format
- (<literal>YYYY-MM-DD</literal>). The earliest representable year is 1900. If an empty string is
- passed the birth date is reset to unset.</para>
-
- <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--icon-name=<replaceable>ICON</replaceable></option></term>
diff --git a/src/basic/time-util.c b/src/basic/time-util.c
index 1e426bb8f9..5dd00af952 100644
--- a/src/basic/time-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/time-util.c
@@ -1892,51 +1892,3 @@ TimestampStyle timestamp_style_from_string(const char *s) {
return TIMESTAMP_US_UTC;
return t;
}
-
-int parse_calendar_date_full(const char *s, bool allow_pre_epoch, usec_t *ret_usec, struct tm *ret_tm) {
- struct tm parsed_tm = {}, copy_tm;
- const char *k;
- int r;
-
- assert(s);
-
- k = strptime(s, "%Y-%m-%d", &parsed_tm);
- if (!k || *k)
- return -EINVAL;
-
- copy_tm = parsed_tm;
-
- usec_t usec = USEC_INFINITY;
-
- if (allow_pre_epoch) {
- /* For birth dates we use timegm() directly since we need to accept pre-epoch dates.
- * timegm() returns (time_t) -1 both on error and for one second before the epoch.
- * Initialize wday to -1 beforehand: if it remains -1 after the call, it's a genuine
- * error; if timegm() changed it, the date was successfully normalized. */
- copy_tm.tm_wday = -1;
- if (timegm(&copy_tm) == (time_t) -1 && copy_tm.tm_wday == -1)
- return -EINVAL;
- } else {
- r = mktime_or_timegm_usec(&copy_tm, /* utc= */ true, &usec);
- if (r < 0)
- return r;
- }
-
- /* Refuse non-normalized dates, e.g. Feb 30 */
- if (copy_tm.tm_mday != parsed_tm.tm_mday ||
- copy_tm.tm_mon != parsed_tm.tm_mon ||
- copy_tm.tm_year != parsed_tm.tm_year)
- return -EINVAL;
-
- if (ret_usec)
- *ret_usec = usec;
- if (ret_tm) {
- /* Reset to unset, then fill in only the date fields we parsed and validated */
- *ret_tm = BIRTH_DATE_UNSET;
- ret_tm->tm_mday = parsed_tm.tm_mday;
- ret_tm->tm_mon = parsed_tm.tm_mon;
- ret_tm->tm_year = parsed_tm.tm_year;
- }
-
- return 0;
-}
diff --git a/src/basic/time-util.h b/src/basic/time-util.h
index 5b6a524c48..bde0b02d03 100644
--- a/src/basic/time-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/time-util.h
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
/* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
#pragma once
-#include <limits.h>
#include <time.h>
#include "basic-forward.h"
@@ -182,23 +181,6 @@ const char* etc_localtime(void);
int mktime_or_timegm_usec(struct tm *tm, bool utc, usec_t *ret);
int localtime_or_gmtime_usec(usec_t t, bool utc, struct tm *ret);
-int parse_calendar_date_full(const char *s, bool allow_pre_epoch, usec_t *ret_usec, struct tm *ret_tm);
-
-static inline int parse_calendar_date(const char *s, usec_t *ret) {
- return parse_calendar_date_full(s, /* allow_pre_epoch= */ false, ret, NULL);
-}
-
-#define BIRTH_DATE_UNSET \
- (const struct tm) { \
- .tm_year = INT_MIN, \
- }
-
-#define BIRTH_DATE_IS_SET(tm) ((tm).tm_year != INT_MIN)
-
-static inline int parse_birth_date(const char *s, struct tm *ret) {
- return parse_calendar_date_full(s, /* allow_pre_epoch= */ true, NULL, ret);
-}
-
uint32_t usec_to_jiffies(usec_t usec);
usec_t jiffies_to_usec(uint32_t jiffies);
diff --git a/src/home/homectl.c b/src/home/homectl.c
index 507860cde6..a8ebf85145 100644
--- a/src/home/homectl.c
+++ b/src/home/homectl.c
@@ -3945,7 +3945,6 @@ static int help(void) {
" --alias=ALIAS Define alias usernames for this account\n"
" --email-address=EMAIL Email address for user\n"
" --location=LOCATION Set location of user on earth\n"
- " --birth-date=[DATE] Set user birth date (YYYY-MM-DD)\n"
" --icon-name=NAME Icon name for user\n"
" -d --home-dir=PATH Home directory\n"
" -u --uid=UID Numeric UID for user\n"
@@ -4114,7 +4113,6 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
ARG_LOCKED,
ARG_SSH_AUTHORIZED_KEYS,
ARG_LOCATION,
- ARG_BIRTH_DATE,
ARG_ICON_NAME,
ARG_PASSWORD_HINT,
ARG_NICE,
@@ -4201,7 +4199,6 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
{ "alias", required_argument, NULL, ARG_ALIAS },
{ "email-address", required_argument, NULL, ARG_EMAIL_ADDRESS },
{ "location", required_argument, NULL, ARG_LOCATION },
- { "birth-date", required_argument, NULL, ARG_BIRTH_DATE },
{ "password-hint", required_argument, NULL, ARG_PASSWORD_HINT },
{ "icon-name", required_argument, NULL, ARG_ICON_NAME },
{ "home-dir", required_argument, NULL, 'd' }, /* Compatible with useradd(8) */
@@ -4415,22 +4412,6 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
break;
}
- case ARG_BIRTH_DATE:
- if (isempty(optarg)) {
- r = drop_from_identity("birthDate");
- if (r < 0)
- return r;
- } else {
- r = parse_birth_date(optarg, /* ret= */ NULL);
- if (r < 0)
- return log_error_errno(r, "Invalid birth date (expected YYYY-MM-DD): %s", optarg);
-
- r = parse_string_field(&arg_identity_extra, "birthDate", optarg);
- if (r < 0)
- return r;
- }
- break;
-
case ARG_CIFS_SERVICE:
if (!isempty(optarg)) {
r = parse_cifs_service(optarg, /* ret_host= */ NULL, /* ret_service= */ NULL, /* ret_path= */ NULL);
diff --git a/src/shared/user-record-show.c b/src/shared/user-record-show.c
index 11edf2557c..a43328c9fe 100644
--- a/src/shared/user-record-show.c
+++ b/src/shared/user-record-show.c
@@ -342,8 +342,6 @@ void user_record_show(UserRecord *hr, bool show_full_group_info) {
printf(" Email: %s\n", hr->email_address);
if (hr->location)
printf(" Location: %s\n", hr->location);
- if (BIRTH_DATE_IS_SET(hr->birth_date))
- printf(" Birth Date: %04d-%02d-%02d\n", hr->birth_date.tm_year + 1900, hr->birth_date.tm_mon + 1, hr->birth_date.tm_mday);
if (hr->password_hint)
printf(" Passw. Hint: %s\n", hr->password_hint);
if (hr->icon_name)
diff --git a/src/shared/user-record.c b/src/shared/user-record.c
index 4dfb2c72d7..c65bab4ff4 100644
--- a/src/shared/user-record.c
+++ b/src/shared/user-record.c
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ UserRecord* user_record_new(void) {
.nice_level = INT_MAX,
.not_before_usec = UINT64_MAX,
.not_after_usec = UINT64_MAX,
- .birth_date = BIRTH_DATE_UNSET,
.locked = -1,
.storage = _USER_STORAGE_INVALID,
.access_mode = MODE_INVALID,
@@ -418,28 +417,6 @@ static int json_dispatch_filename_or_path(const char *name, sd_json_variant *var
return 0;
}
-static int json_dispatch_birth_date(const char *name, sd_json_variant *variant, sd_json_dispatch_flags_t flags, void *userdata) {
- struct tm *ret = ASSERT_PTR(userdata);
- const char *s;
- int r;
-
- if (sd_json_variant_is_null(variant)) {
- *ret = BIRTH_DATE_UNSET;
- return 0;
- }
-
- if (!sd_json_variant_is_string(variant))
- return json_log(variant, flags, SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(EINVAL), "JSON field '%s' is not a string.", strna(name));
-
- s = sd_json_variant_string(variant);
-
- r = parse_birth_date(s, ret);
- if (r < 0)
- return json_log(variant, flags, r, "JSON field '%s' is not a valid ISO 8601 date (expected YYYY-MM-DD).", strna(name));
-
- return 0;
-}
-
static int json_dispatch_home_directory(const char *name, sd_json_variant *variant, sd_json_dispatch_flags_t flags, void *userdata) {
char **s = userdata;
const char *n;
@@ -1523,8 +1500,7 @@ int user_group_record_mangle(
/* Personally Identifiable Information (PII) — avoid leaking in logs */
"realName",
"location",
- "emailAddress",
- "birthDate")
+ "emailAddress")
sd_json_variant_sensitive(sd_json_variant_by_key(v, key));
/* Check if we have the special sections and if they match our flags set */
@@ -1619,7 +1595,6 @@ int user_record_load(UserRecord *h, sd_json_variant *v, UserRecordLoadFlags load
{ "emailAddress", SD_JSON_VARIANT_STRING, sd_json_dispatch_string, offsetof(UserRecord, email_address), SD_JSON_STRICT },
{ "iconName", SD_JSON_VARIANT_STRING, sd_json_dispatch_string, offsetof(UserRecord, icon_name), SD_JSON_STRICT },
{ "location", SD_JSON_VARIANT_STRING, sd_json_dispatch_string, offsetof(UserRecord, location), 0 },
- { "birthDate", SD_JSON_VARIANT_STRING, json_dispatch_birth_date, offsetof(UserRecord, birth_date), 0 },
{ "disposition", SD_JSON_VARIANT_STRING, json_dispatch_user_disposition, offsetof(UserRecord, disposition), 0 },
{ "lastChangeUSec", _SD_JSON_VARIANT_TYPE_INVALID, sd_json_dispatch_uint64, offsetof(UserRecord, last_change_usec), 0 },
{ "lastPasswordChangeUSec", _SD_JSON_VARIANT_TYPE_INVALID, sd_json_dispatch_uint64, offsetof(UserRecord, last_password_change_usec), 0 },
diff --git a/src/shared/user-record.h b/src/shared/user-record.h
index 4eb35d43e4..c3d52d2bd7 100644
--- a/src/shared/user-record.h
+++ b/src/shared/user-record.h
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
/* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
#pragma once
-#include <time.h>
-
#include "sd-id128.h"
#include "bitfield.h"
@@ -268,7 +266,6 @@ typedef struct UserRecord {
char *password_hint;
char *icon_name;
char *location;
- struct tm birth_date;
char *blob_directory;
Hashmap *blob_manifest;
diff --git a/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-resource.c b/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-resource.c
index ba1842b2d6..1cc48201ef 100644
--- a/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-resource.c
+++ b/src/sysupdate/sysupdate-resource.c
@@ -433,10 +433,24 @@ static int process_magic_file(
if (iovec_memcmp(&IOVEC_MAKE(expected_hash, sizeof(expected_hash)), hash) != 0)
log_warning("Hash of best before marker file '%s' has unexpected value, proceeding anyway.", fn);
+ struct tm parsed_tm = {};
+ const char *n = strptime(e, "%Y-%m-%d", &parsed_tm);
+ if (!n || *n != 0) {
+ /* Doesn't parse? Then it's not a best-before date */
+ log_warning("Found best before marker with an invalid date, ignoring: %s", fn);
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+ struct tm copy_tm = parsed_tm;
usec_t best_before;
- r = parse_calendar_date(e, &best_before);
- if (r < 0) {
- log_warning_errno(r, "Found best before marker with an invalid date, ignoring: %s", fn);
+ r = mktime_or_timegm_usec(&copy_tm, /* utc= */ true, &best_before);
+ if (r < 0)
+ return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to convert best before time: %m");
+ if (copy_tm.tm_mday != parsed_tm.tm_mday ||
+ copy_tm.tm_mon != parsed_tm.tm_mon ||
+ copy_tm.tm_year != parsed_tm.tm_year) {
+ /* date was not normalized? (e.g. "30th of feb") */
+ log_warning("Found best before marker with a non-normalized data, ignoring: %s", fn);
return 0;
}
diff --git a/src/test/test-time-util.c b/src/test/test-time-util.c
index d3d4fd5f9b..d5d4992f82 100644
--- a/src/test/test-time-util.c
+++ b/src/test/test-time-util.c
@@ -1281,62 +1281,4 @@ static int intro(void) {
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
-TEST(parse_calendar_date) {
- usec_t usec;
-
- /* Valid dates */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_calendar_date("2000-01-01", &usec));
- ASSERT_OK(parse_calendar_date("1970-01-01", &usec));
- ASSERT_EQ(usec, 0u); /* epoch */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_calendar_date("2000-02-29", &usec)); /* leap year */
-
- /* NULL ret is allowed (validation only) */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_calendar_date("2000-06-15", NULL));
-
- /* Non-normalized dates */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("2023-02-29", &usec), EINVAL); /* not a leap year */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("2023-04-31", &usec), EINVAL); /* April has 30 days */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("2023-13-01", &usec), EINVAL); /* month 13 */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("2023-00-01", &usec), EINVAL); /* month 0 */
-
- /* Malformed input */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("", &usec), EINVAL);
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("not-a-date", &usec), EINVAL);
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("2023-06-15T00:00:00", &usec), EINVAL); /* trailing time */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("2023/06/15", &usec), EINVAL); /* wrong separator */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_calendar_date("06-15-2023", &usec), EINVAL); /* wrong order */
-}
-
-TEST(parse_birth_date) {
- struct tm tm;
-
- /* Valid dates */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_birth_date("2000-06-15", &tm));
- ASSERT_EQ(tm.tm_year, 100); /* 2000 - 1900 */
- ASSERT_EQ(tm.tm_mon, 5); /* June, 0-indexed */
- ASSERT_EQ(tm.tm_mday, 15);
-
- /* Pre-epoch dates */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_birth_date("1960-03-25", &tm));
- ASSERT_EQ(tm.tm_year, 60);
- ASSERT_EQ(tm.tm_mon, 2);
- ASSERT_EQ(tm.tm_mday, 25);
-
- /* NULL ret is allowed (validation only) */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_birth_date("2000-01-01", NULL));
-
- /* Non-date fields should not be relied upon */
- ASSERT_OK(parse_birth_date("2000-06-15", &tm));
- ASSERT_FALSE(BIRTH_DATE_IS_SET(BIRTH_DATE_UNSET));
-
- /* Non-normalized dates */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_birth_date("2023-02-29", &tm), EINVAL);
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_birth_date("2023-04-31", &tm), EINVAL);
-
- /* Malformed input */
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_birth_date("", &tm), EINVAL);
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_birth_date("not-a-date", &tm), EINVAL);
- ASSERT_ERROR(parse_birth_date("2023-06-15T00:00:00", &tm), EINVAL);
-}
-
DEFINE_TEST_MAIN_WITH_INTRO(LOG_INFO, intro);
diff --git a/src/test/test-user-record.c b/src/test/test-user-record.c
index 480a3f33eb..c807ffe83a 100644
--- a/src/test/test-user-record.c
+++ b/src/test/test-user-record.c
@@ -96,15 +96,6 @@ TEST(self_changes) {
SD_JSON_BUILD_PAIR_OBJECT("privileged",
SD_JSON_BUILD_PAIR_UNSIGNED("notInHardCodedList", 99999)));
ASSERT_TRUE(user_record_self_changes_allowed(curr, new));
-
- /* birthDate is NOT self-modifiable (admin-only) */
- USER(&curr,
- SD_JSON_BUILD_PAIR_STRING("userName", "test"),
- SD_JSON_BUILD_PAIR_STRING("birthDate", "1990-01-01"));
- USER(&new,
- SD_JSON_BUILD_PAIR_STRING("userName", "test"),
- SD_JSON_BUILD_PAIR_STRING("birthDate", "1990-06-15"));
- ASSERT_FALSE(user_record_self_changes_allowed(curr, new));
}
DEFINE_TEST_MAIN(LOG_INFO);
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment