The /etc/shadow (or equivalent) file must have mode 0400.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
GEN001420-ESXI5-PNF	GEN001420-ESXI5-PNF	GEN001420-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. The file also contains password hashes which must not be accessible to users other than root. 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. The file also contains password hashes which must not be accessible to users other than root. 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-GEN001420-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-GEN001420-ESXI5-PNF_fix)
This requirement is permanent not a finding. No fix is required.