The /etc/passwd file must have mode 0644 or less permissive.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-217879	RHEL-06-000041	SV-217879r505923_rule		Medium

Description
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.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-09-03

Details

Check Text ( C-19360r376652_chk )
To check the permissions of "/etc/passwd", run the command: $ ls -l /etc/passwd If properly configured, the output should indicate the following permissions: "-rw-r--r--" If it does not, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-19358r376653_fix)
To properly set the permissions of "/etc/passwd", run the command: # chmod 0644 /etc/passwd