While going through an annual sarbox task I noticed that on Linux (maybe unix too) the sticky bit is set on the password file. [oracle@server before]$ l $OH/dbs/orapworcl -rwSr----- 1 oracle oinstall 1536 Oct 30 2007 /u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0/aglqa/dbs/orapworcl The bit is shown as a capital S due to the execute bit not being set. There's nothing in ML about it, at least I could not find anything. The following test was performed: shutdown database chmod 640 orapworcl startup database logon to database remotely as sysdba It doesn't appear that the SUID bit serves any purpose. Does someone here know why the password file is SUID? -- Jared Still Certifiable Oracle DBA and Part Time Perl Evangelist