Title

RHEL 9 /etc/passwd- file must have mode 0644 or less permissive to prevent unauthorized access. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

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.

Check Content

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

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

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-257896r925675_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-257896

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

Expert Comments

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