RHEL 10 must restrict the use of the "su" command.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-281205 | SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156 | RHEL-10-600500 | SV-281205r1166567_rule | 2026-03-11 | 1 |
Description
The "su" program allows commands to be run with a substitute user and group ID. It is commonly used to run commands as the root user. Limiting access to such commands is considered a good security practice.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156, SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00123
ℹ️ Check
Verify RHEL 10 requires users to be members of the "wheel" group to run "su".
Verify the configuration with the following command:
$ sudo grep pam_wheel /etc/pam.d/su
auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid
If a line for "pam_wheel.so" does not exist or is commented out, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 10 to require users to be in the "wheel" group to run the "su" command.
Edit the configuration file:
$ sudo vi /etc/pam.d/su
Add the following lines:
auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid
$ sed '/^[[:space:]]*#[[:space:]]*auth[[:space:]]\+required[[:space:]]\+pam_wheel\.so[[:space:]]\+use_uid$/s/^[[:space:]]*#//' -i /etc/pam.d/su
If necessary, create a "wheel" group and add administrative users to the group.