Title

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have unnecessary accounts. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Accounts providing no operational purpose provide additional opportunities for system compromise. Unnecessary accounts include user accounts for individuals not requiring access to the system and application accounts for applications not installed on the system.

Check Content

Verify all accounts on the system are assigned to an active system, application, or user account. Obtain the list of authorized system accounts from the Information System Security Officer (ISSO). Check the system accounts on the system with the following command: # more /etc/passwd root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown halt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin gopher:x:13:30:gopher:/var/gopher:/sbin/nologin Accounts such as "games" and "gopher" are not authorized accounts as they do not support authorized system functions. If the accounts on the system do not match the provided documentation, or accounts that do not support an authorized system function are present, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the system so all accounts on the system are assigned to an active system, application, or user account. Remove accounts that do not support approved system activities or that allow for a normal user to perform administrative-level actions. Document all authorized accounts on the system.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-204460r603261_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-204460

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.