RHEL 9 /etc/passwd- file must have mode 0644 or less permissive to prevent unauthorized access.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257896	RHEL-09-232080	SV-257896r991589_rule		Medium

Description

The "/etc/passwd-" file is a backup file of "/etc/passwd", and as such, contains information about the users that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for system security.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-12-04

Details

Check Text (C-61637r925673_chk)

Verify that the "/etc/passwd-" file has mode "0644" or less permissive with the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%a %n" /etc/passwd-

644 /etc/passwd-

If a value of "0644" or less permissive is not returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61561r925674_fix)

Change the mode of the file "/etc/passwd-" to "0644" by running the following command:

$ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/passwd-