sshd and pam /etc/security/limits.conf file descriptor settings problem

[Sean Staats]

Why can't non-uid 0 users have more than 1024 file descriptors when
logging in via ssh?

I'm trying to allow a user to have a hard limit of 8192 file
descriptors(system defaults to 1024) via the following setting in
/etc/security/limits.conf:
jdoe    hard    nofile          8192

But when jdoe logs in via ssh and does 'ulimit -Hn' he gets '1024' as a
response.  If he tries to set it with 'ulimit -Hn 8192' he gets an
'Operation not permitted' error.  If jdoe instead telnets to the box, he
gets the hard limit of 8192 file descriptors.

Here is what happens when I set the hard limit to 512 in limits.conf:
jdoe    hard    nofile          512

When jdoe logs in via ssh, he gets a hard limit of 512 file
descriptors.  The same goes for telnet.  So ssh is certainly reading the
limits.conf file and applying the settings, so long as nofile <= 1024.

Why won't ssh allow users to have more than 1024 file descriptors???

Many thanks!
-Sean