Jul 16 – 21, 2026
Europe/Madrid timezone

Passwordless authentication mechanisms from the GUI (GDM)

Jul 17, 2026, 1:45 PM
25m
25 Minute Presentation - In Person Design of User and Developer Experiences

Description

The world is moving toward more modern and secure authentication methods. This transition is driven by a global push for Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), which many organizations are adopting as a security mandate.

As a result, GDM has received several improvements to enhance the authentication experience. Two new mechanisms have been added: passkeys and external IdP (web login). Users can now choose among the supported authentication mechanisms, and the PAM conversation has been extended to support this new scenario with multiple authentication options.

In this talk, we’ll cover what the GDM authentication architecture looks like and how it handles PAM conversations. We will discuss the new PAM extension that uses JSON messages to support these mechanisms, the changes made in GDM to allow selecting different authentication methods, upcoming enhancements, and provide a demonstration of the current implementation.

Author(s) Bio

Software Engineer specializing in the GNOME desktop stack. I am part of the team maintaining GDM, but my work doesn't stop at the login screen. I am deeply interested in the entire graphics stack, keeping a close eye on Mutter and remote desktop solutions.

Presentation Type In Person
Photo usage consent Yes

Author

Joan Torres lopez (RED HAT)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.