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V-271811

CAT II (Medium)

OL 9 /etc/passwd- file must have mode 0644 or less permissive to prevent unauthorized access.

Rule ID

SV-271811r1092145_rule

STIG

Oracle Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R5

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

The "/etc/passwd-" file is a backup file of "/etc/passwd", and as such, contains information about the users that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for system security.

Check Content

Verify that OL 9 configures the "/etc/passwd-" file to have a mode of "0644" or less permissive with the following command:

$ 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

Change the mode of the file "/etc/passwd-" to "0644" by running the following command:

$ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/passwd-