STIGUI
V-281209CAT II — Medium severitySV-281209r1166579_rule

RHEL 10 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command.

Rule version RHEL-10-600540 · STIG v1 · 2026-09-17

Discussion

Without reauthentication, users may access resources or perform tasks for which they do not have authorization.

When operating systems provide the capability to escalate a functional capability, it is critical that the organization requires the user to reauthenticate when using the "sudo" command.

If the value is set to an integer less than "0", the user's time stamp will not expire, and the user will not have to reauthenticate for privileged actions until the user's session is terminated.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156, SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00157, SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00158

Check

Verify RHEL 10 requires reauthentication when using the "sudo" command to elevate privileges with the following command:

$ sudo grep -ir 'timestamp_timeout' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/ /etc/sudoers:Defaults timestamp_timeout=0

If results are returned from more than one file location, this is a finding.

If "timestamp_timeout" is set to a negative number, is commented out, or no results are returned, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure RHEL 10 to reauthenticate "sudo" commands after the specified timeout.

Add the following line to "/etc/sudoers" or a file in "/etc/sudoers.d":

Defaults timestamp_timeout=0

Identifiers

Group ID
V-281209
Group title
SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156
Rule ID
SV-281209r1166579_rule
Check ID
C-85770r1166577_chk
Fix ID
F-85675r1166578_fix