UCF STIG Viewer Logo
Changes are coming to https://stigviewer.com. Take our survey to help us understand your usage and how we can better serve you in the future.
Take Survey

The system must not have the unnecessary news account.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-27275 GEN000290-2 SV-63215r1_rule IAAC-1 Medium
Description
Accounts that provide no operational purpose provide additional opportunities for system compromise. Unnecessary accounts include user accounts for individuals not requiring access to the system and application accounts for applications not installed on the system.
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2015-03-26

Details

Check Text ( C-51935r1_chk )
Check the system for the unnecessary "news" accounts.

Procedure:
# rpm -q inn
If the "inn" is installed the "news" user is necessary and this is not a finding.

# grep ^news /etc/passwd
If this account exists and "inn" is not installed, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-53793r1_fix)
Remove the "news" account from the /etc/passwd file (using the /usr/sbin/userdel command) before connecting a system to the network.

Procedure:
# userdel news