RHEL 10 must not have accounts configured with blank or null passwords.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-281201 | SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037 | RHEL-10-600460 | SV-281201r1166555_rule | 2026-03-11 | 1 |
Description
If an account has an empty password, anyone could log in and run commands with the privileges of that account. Accounts with empty passwords should never be used in operational environments.
ℹ️ Check
Verify RHEL 10 prohibits null or blank passwords with the following command:
$ sudo awk -F: '!$2 {print $1}' /etc/shadow
If the command returns any results, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 10 so that all accounts have a password, or lock the account with the following commands:
Perform a password reset:
$ sudo passwd [username]
To lock an account:
$ sudo passwd -l [username]