Re: Not all installs of High Sierra are affected
...only 1 out of the 12 has a blank root password. I have reset the root password on all devices anyway however, I am struggling to see why only 1 of the 12 has this condition? Any thoughts other than someone else reset the password?
Total guess, but perhaps if you've upgraded the OS then you'd have a root password set previously, whereas a fresh install fails because of a bug in the new installer?
At risk of #whataboutism, there was an issue with Ubuntu way way way back, where the installer stored the root password in a temporary file and then failed to delete it after install. Leaving it world-readable. That, from a technical standpoint, was similarly embarrassing!
To be fair, it was fixed quickly. And Canonical's entire annual development budget was probably a pittance compared with Apple. But embarrassing bugs are embarrassing. And for some reason I always remember those ones.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
