RHEL 9 must not have accounts configured with blank or null passwords.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-258120 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | RHEL-09-611155 | SV-258120r991589_rule | 2025-02-27 | 2 |
| 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 that null or blank passwords cannot be used with the following command: $ sudo awk -F: '!$2 {print $1}' /etc/shadow If the command returns any results, this is a finding. |
| ✔️ Fix |
|---|
| Configure all accounts on RHEL 9 to 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] |