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V-257909

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 9 /etc/passwd- file must be group-owned by root.

Rule ID

SV-257909r991589_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R8

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 the group ownership of the "/etc/passwd-" file with the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%G %n" /etc/passwd-

root /etc/passwd-

If "/etc/passwd-" file does not have a group owner of "root", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Change the group of the file /etc/passwd- to root by running the following command:

$ sudo chgrp root /etc/passwd-