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V-281070

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 10 must enforce mode "0644" or less permissive for the "/etc/passwd" file to prevent unauthorized access.

Rule ID

SV-281070r1165565_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-000213

Discussion

If the "/etc/passwd" file is writable by a group-owner or the world, the risk of its compromise is increased. The file contains the list of accounts on the system and associated information, and protection of this file is critical for system security.

Check Content

Verify RHEL 10 is configured so that the "/etc/passwd" file has mode "0644" or less permissive with the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%a %n" /etc/passwd
644 /etc/passwd

If a value of "0644" or less permissive is not returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 10 so that the mode of the file "/etc/passwd" is set to "0644" by running the following command:

$ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/passwd