← Back to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-251706

CAT I (High)

The RHEL 8 operating system must not have accounts configured with blank or null passwords.

Rule ID

SV-251706r1017359_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R7

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

If an account has an empty password, anyone could log on and run commands with the privileges of that account. Accounts with empty passwords should never be used in operational environments.

Check Content

Check the "/etc/shadow" file for blank passwords with the following command:

$ sudo awk -F: '!$2 {print $1}' /etc/shadow

If the command returns any results, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure all accounts on the system to have a password or lock the account with the following commands:

Perform a password reset:
$ sudo passwd [username]
Lock an account:
$ sudo passwd -l [username]