The /etc/shadow (or equivalent) file must be owned by root.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
GEN001400-ESXI5-PNF	GEN001400-ESXI5-PNF	GEN001400-ESXI5-PNF_rule		Medium

Description
The /etc/shadow file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture. Applicable, but permanent not-a-finding - Not a General Purpose (GP) OS. VMware's ESXi-v5 is a multi-user kernel where all users are "administrator" with either: Administrator with Full and partial (configurable) privileges, Read-only, or No Access. In this case, the file owner, group-owner and mode(s) have no meaning.

Description

The /etc/shadow file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture. Applicable, but permanent not-a-finding - Not a General Purpose (GP) OS. VMware's ESXi-v5 is a multi-user kernel where all users are "administrator" with either: Administrator with Full and partial (configurable) privileges, Read-only, or No Access. In this case, the file owner, group-owner and mode(s) have no meaning.

STIG	Date
VMware ESXi v5 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2013-01-15

Details

Check Text ( C-GEN001400-ESXI5-PNF_chk )
ESXi supports this requirement and cannot be configured to be out of compliance. This is a permanent not a finding.

Fix Text (F-GEN001400-ESXI5-PNF_fix)
This requirement is permanent not a finding. No fix is required.