RHEL 10 must use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-281210 | SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156 | RHEL-10-600550 | SV-281210r1166582_rule | 2026-03-11 | 1 |
Description
If the "rootpw", "targetpw", or "runaspw" flags are defined and not disabled, by default the operating system will prompt the invoking user for the "root" user password.
ℹ️ Check
Verify RHEL 10 sudoers security policy is configured to use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation with the following command:
$ sudo grep -irE '(!rootpw|!targetpw|!runaspw)' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/ | grep -v '#'
/etc/sudoers:Defaults !targetpw
/etc/sudoers:Defaults !rootpw
/etc/sudoers:Defaults !runaspw
If no results are returned, this is a finding.
If results are returned from more than one file location, this is a finding.
If "Defaults !targetpw" is not defined, this is a finding.
If "Defaults !rootpw" is not defined, this is a finding.
If "Defaults !runaspw" is not defined, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 10 to use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".
Define the following in the Defaults section of the /etc/sudoers file or a single configuration file in the /etc/sudoers.d/ directory:
Defaults !targetpw
Defaults !rootpw
Defaults !runaspw