RHEL 10 must enforce mode "0644" or less permissive for the "/etc/passwd" file to prevent unauthorized access.

If the "/etc/passwd" file is writable by a group-owner or the world, the risk of its compromise is increased. The file contains the list of accounts on the system and associated information, and protection of this file is critical for system security.

Verify RHEL 10 is configured so 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.

Configure RHEL 10 so that the mode of the file "/etc/passwd" is set to "0644" by running the following command:

$ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/passwd