The SLES for vRealize must prevent direct logon into the root account.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-239552	VROM-SL-000685	SV-239552r662107_rule		High

Description
To assure individual accountability and prevent unauthorized access, organizational users must be individually identified and authenticated. A group authenticator is a generic account used by multiple individuals. Use of a group authenticator alone does not uniquely identify individual users. Examples of the group authenticator is the UNIX OS "root" user account, the Windows "Administrator" account, the "sa" account, or a "helpdesk" account. For example, the UNIX and Windows operating systems offer a 'switch user' capability allowing users to authenticate with their individual credentials and, when needed, 'switch' to the administrator role. This method provides for unique individual authentication prior to using a group authenticator. Users (and any processes acting on behalf of users) need to be uniquely identified and authenticated for all accesses other than those accesses explicitly identified and documented by the organization, which outlines specific user actions that can be performed on the operating system without identification or authentication. Requiring individuals to be authenticated with an individual authenticator prior to using a group authenticator allows for traceability of actions, as well as adding an additional level of protection of the actions that can be taken with group account knowledge.

Description

To assure individual accountability and prevent unauthorized access, organizational users must be individually identified and authenticated. A group authenticator is a generic account used by multiple individuals. Use of a group authenticator alone does not uniquely identify individual users. Examples of the group authenticator is the UNIX OS "root" user account, the Windows "Administrator" account, the "sa" account, or a "helpdesk" account. For example, the UNIX and Windows operating systems offer a 'switch user' capability allowing users to authenticate with their individual credentials and, when needed, 'switch' to the administrator role. This method provides for unique individual authentication prior to using a group authenticator. Users (and any processes acting on behalf of users) need to be uniquely identified and authenticated for all accesses other than those accesses explicitly identified and documented by the organization, which outlines specific user actions that can be performed on the operating system without identification or authentication. Requiring individuals to be authenticated with an individual authenticator prior to using a group authenticator allows for traceability of actions, as well as adding an additional level of protection of the actions that can be taken with group account knowledge.

STIG	Date
VMware vRealize Operations Manager 6.x SLES Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-09-21

Details

Check Text ( C-42785r662105_chk )
Verify SLES for vRealize prevents direct logons to the root account by running the following command: # grep root /etc/shadow \| cut -d "":"" -f 2 If the returned message contains any text, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-42744r662106_fix)
Configure SLES for vRealize to prevent direct logins to the root account by performing the following operations: Add this line to the "/etc/group" file: admin:x:[UNIQUE_NUMBER]:[USERNAME] USERNAME is the user you wish to add to the admin group. UNIQUE_NUMBER is a number entered into the ID field of an entry that is unique to all other IDs in the file. Comment out the following lines in "/etc/sudoers" file: Default targetpw ALL ALL=(ALL) ALL Under the line in the "/etc/sudoers" file: root ALL=(ALL) All Add the following line: %admin ALL=(ALL) ALL Run the following command: # passwd -d root

Fix Text (F-42744r662106_fix)

Configure SLES for vRealize to prevent direct logins to the root account by performing the following operations:

Add this line to the "/etc/group" file:

admin:x:[UNIQUE_NUMBER]:[USERNAME]

USERNAME is the user you wish to add to the admin group.
UNIQUE_NUMBER is a number entered into the ID field of an entry that is unique to all other IDs in the file.

Comment out the following lines in "/etc/sudoers" file:

Default targetpw
ALL ALL=(ALL) ALL

Under the line in the "/etc/sudoers" file:

root ALL=(ALL) All

Add the following line:

%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

Run the following command:

# passwd -d root