Root passwords must never be passed over a network in clear text form.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-1046	GEN001100	SV-44919r1_rule		High

Description
If a user accesses the root account (or any account) using an unencrypted connection, the password is passed over the network in clear text form and is subject to interception and misuse. This is true even if recommended procedures are followed by logging on to a named account and using the su command to access root.

STIG	Date
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server v11 for System z Security Technical Implementation Guide	2018-09-19

Details

Check Text ( C-42360r1_chk )
Determine if root has logged in over an unencrypted network connection. First determine if root has logged in over a network. Procedure: # last | grep "^root " | egrep -v "reboot| |ttyS0" | more If root has logged in over the network, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-38351r1_fix)
Enable SSH on the system and authenticate with a userid/password that has “su” privileges to attain root access.