diff --git a/NOTES b/NOTES
index 17943b1..2ef6306 100644
--- a/NOTES
+++ b/NOTES
@@ -393,5 +393,4 @@ Then we might even want a UI way to delete authorized_keys, perhaps even
 as a replacement for the current awkward UI.
 
 
-XXX - if authorized_keys doesn't exist, generate a one-off password
 XXX - make a way to delete authorized_keys
diff --git a/dropbear/auth.h b/dropbear/auth.h
index 66f5b6a..0847711 100644
--- a/dropbear/auth.h
+++ b/dropbear/auth.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ void send_msg_userauth_success();
 void send_msg_userauth_banner(buffer *msg);
 void svr_auth_password();
 void svr_auth_pubkey();
+int authkeys_exists(void);
 void svr_auth_pam();
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_SVR_PUBKEY_OPTIONS
diff --git a/dropbear/common-session.c b/dropbear/common-session.c
index bafd132..c2582fb 100644
--- a/dropbear/common-session.c
+++ b/dropbear/common-session.c
@@ -506,10 +506,10 @@ void fill_passwd(const char* username) {
 		m_free(ses.authstate.pw_dir);
 	if (ses.authstate.pw_shell)
 		m_free(ses.authstate.pw_shell);
+#if 0
 	if (ses.authstate.pw_passwd)
 		m_free(ses.authstate.pw_passwd);
 
-#if 0
 	pw = getpwnam(username);
 	if (!pw) {
 		return;
@@ -540,7 +540,9 @@ void fill_passwd(const char* username) {
 	ses.authstate.pw_name = m_strdup("user");
 	ses.authstate.pw_dir = m_strdup(conf_home);
 	ses.authstate.pw_shell = m_strdup(conf_shell);
-	ses.authstate.pw_passwd = m_strdup("!!");
+	if (!ses.authstate.pw_passwd) {	/* password hack */
+		ses.authstate.pw_passwd = m_strdup("!!");
+	}
 #endif	/* 0 */
 }
 
diff --git a/dropbear/svr-auth.c b/dropbear/svr-auth.c
index 4fcfea6..023dad9 100644
--- a/dropbear/svr-auth.c
+++ b/dropbear/svr-auth.c
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ void svr_authinitialise() {
 static void authclear() {
 	
 	memset(&ses.authstate, 0, sizeof(ses.authstate));
+#if 0
 #ifdef ENABLE_SVR_PUBKEY_AUTH
 	ses.authstate.authtypes |= AUTH_TYPE_PUBKEY;
 #endif
@@ -76,6 +77,24 @@ static void authclear() {
 	if (ses.authstate.pw_passwd) {
 		m_free(ses.authstate.pw_passwd);
 	}
+#else /* 0 - password hack */
+	if (authkeys_exists()) {
+		ses.authstate.authtypes = AUTH_TYPE_PUBKEY;
+	} else {
+		static const char tab64[64] =
+"abcdefghijk!mnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGH@JKLMN#PQRSTUVWXYZ$%23456789^&";
+		char pw[9];
+		int i;
+		ses.authstate.authtypes = AUTH_TYPE_PASSWORD;
+		genrandom(pw, 8);
+		for (i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
+			pw[i] = tab64[pw[i] & 63];
+		}
+		pw[8] = 0;
+		fprintf(stderr, "no authorized keys, temporary password: %s\n", pw);
+		ses.authstate.pw_passwd = m_strdup(pw);
+	}
+#endif /* 0 */
 	
 }
 
@@ -169,6 +188,7 @@ void recv_msg_userauth_request() {
 		}
 	}
 	
+#if 0
 #ifdef ENABLE_SVR_PASSWORD_AUTH
 	if (!svr_opts.noauthpass &&
 			!(svr_opts.norootpass && ses.authstate.pw_uid == 0) ) {
@@ -183,6 +203,15 @@ void recv_msg_userauth_request() {
 		}
 	}
 #endif
+#else /* 0 - password hack */
+	if ((ses.authstate.authtypes & AUTH_TYPE_PASSWORD) &&
+	    (methodlen == AUTH_METHOD_PASSWORD_LEN) &&
+	    !strncmp(methodname, AUTH_METHOD_PASSWORD,
+					AUTH_METHOD_PASSWORD_LEN)) {
+		svr_auth_password();
+		goto out;
+	}
+#endif /* 0 */
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_SVR_PAM_AUTH
 	if (!svr_opts.noauthpass &&
@@ -246,7 +275,9 @@ static int checkusername(unsigned char *username, unsigned int userlen) {
 							svr_ses.addrstring);
 				m_free(ses.authstate.username);
 			}
+#if 0 /* password hack - this would unecessarily reset the pw_passwd */
 			authclear();
+#endif /* 0 */
 			fill_passwd(username);
 			ses.authstate.username = m_strdup(username);
 	}
diff --git a/dropbear/svr-authpasswd.c b/dropbear/svr-authpasswd.c
index 7a5a121..3170fef 100644
--- a/dropbear/svr-authpasswd.c
+++ b/dropbear/svr-authpasswd.c
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 #include "auth.h"
 #include "runopts.h"
 
-#ifdef ENABLE_SVR_PASSWORD_AUTH
+#if 1 /* password hack - #ifdef ENABLE_SVR_PASSWORD_AUTH */
 
 static int constant_time_strcmp(const char* a, const char* b) {
 	size_t la = strlen(a);
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ static int constant_time_strcmp(const char* a, const char* b) {
  * appropriate */
 void svr_auth_password() {
 	
+	char tmp[10];
 	char * passwdcrypt = NULL; /* the crypt from /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow */
 	char * testcrypt = NULL; /* crypt generated from the user's password sent */
 	unsigned char * password;
@@ -72,8 +73,17 @@ void svr_auth_password() {
 
 	password = buf_getstring(ses.payload, &passwordlen);
 
+#if 0
 	/* the first bytes of passwdcrypt are the salt */
 	testcrypt = crypt((char*)password, passwdcrypt);
+#else /* 0 - password hack */
+	if (strlen(password) == 8) {
+		strcpy(tmp, password);
+		testcrypt = tmp;
+	} else {
+		testcrypt = NULL;
+	}
+#endif /* 0 */
 	m_burn(password, passwordlen);
 	m_free(password);
 
diff --git a/dropbear/svr-authpubkey.c b/dropbear/svr-authpubkey.c
index bbb0a45..b371ac1 100644
--- a/dropbear/svr-authpubkey.c
+++ b/dropbear/svr-authpubkey.c
@@ -447,3 +447,29 @@ static int checkfileperm(char * filename) {
 }
 
 #endif
+
+/* returns 1 iff authorized_keys exists and is longer than MIN_AUTHKEYS_LINE
+ * (10 bytes) - used for password hack */
+int
+authkeys_exists(void)
+{
+	char *fn;
+	FILE *f;
+	int len = strlen(conf_path) + 40;
+	int i;
+	fn = m_malloc(len);
+	snprintf(fn, len, "%s/authorized_keys", conf_path);
+	f = fopen(fn, "r");
+	m_free(fn);
+	if (!f) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	for (i = 0; i < MIN_AUTHKEYS_LINE; i++) {
+		if (fgetc(f) == EOF) {
+			fclose(f);
+			return 0;
+		}
+	}
+	fclose(f);
+	return 1;
+}
diff --git a/jni/Android.mk b/jni/Android.mk
index 3d8d35c..6c73c5e 100644
--- a/jni/Android.mk
+++ b/jni/Android.mk
@@ -453,6 +453,7 @@ DROPBEAR_SRCS := $(DROPBEAR_PATH)/atomicio.c \
 	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/sshpty.c \
 	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/svr-agentfwd.c \
 	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/svr-auth.c \
+	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/svr-authpasswd.c \
 	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/svr-authpubkey.c \
 	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/svr-authpubkeyoptions.c \
 	$(DROPBEAR_PATH)/svr-chansession.c \