Title

The root account must not be used for direct log in. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Direct login with the root account prevents individual user accountability. Acceptable non-routine uses of the root account for direct login are limited to emergency maintenance, the use of single-user mode for maintenance, and situations where individual administrator accounts are not available.

Check Content

Check if the root is used for direct logins. Procedure: # last root | grep -v reboot If any direct login records for root exist, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Enforce policy requiring all root account access is attained by first logging into a user account and then becoming root preferably through the use of "sudo" which provides traceability to the command level. If that is not workable then using "su" to access the root account will provide traceability to the login user.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-44915r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-11979

Group Title: GEN001020

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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