Storing Temporary Data

In order to allow passing data between different modules, and between the module and the application, two methods are supported - using PAM "items", and using PAM "data" and using PAM "environment variables".

These items live through the lifetime of the application that invoked PAM. "items" are normally used to pass data specific to the PAM library. "data" is used by a module to store module-specific (private) data. "environment variables" are used to store data that may be passed between different modules.