STIGUI
V-282658CAT II — Medium severitySV-282658r1200954_rule

The TOSS 5 /etc/gshadow- file must be group-owned by root.

Rule version TOSS-05-000162 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-20

Discussion

The "/etc/gshadow-" file is a backup of "/etc/gshadow", and as such, contains group password hashes. Protecting this file is critical for system security.

Check

Verify the group ownership of the "/etc/gshadow-" file using the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%G %n" /etc/gshadow- 

root /etc/gshadow-

If "/etc/gshadow-" file does not have a group owner of "root", this is a finding.

Fix

Change the group of the file /etc/gshadow- to root using the following command:

$ sudo chgrp root /etc/gshadow-

Identifiers

Group ID
V-282658
Group title
SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227
Rule ID
SV-282658r1200954_rule
Check ID
C-87219r1200952_chk
Fix ID
F-87124r1200953_fix