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V-281201

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 10 must not have accounts configured with blank or null passwords.

Rule ID

SV-281201r1166555_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-004066

Discussion

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

Check Content

Verify RHEL 10 prohibits null or 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 RHEL 10 so that all accounts have a password, or lock the account with the following commands:

Perform a password reset:

$ sudo passwd [username]

To lock an account:

$ sudo passwd -l [username]