STIGUI
V-282666CAT II — Medium severitySV-282666r1200978_rule

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

Rule version TOSS-05-000170 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-20

Discussion

The "/etc/shadow-" file is a backup file of "/etc/shadow", and as such, contains the list of local system accounts and password hashes. Protecting this file is critical for system security.

Check

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

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

root /etc/shadow-

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

Fix

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

$ sudo chgrp root /etc/shadow-

Identifiers

Group ID
V-282666
Group title
SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227
Rule ID
SV-282666r1200978_rule
Check ID
C-87227r1200976_chk
Fix ID
F-87132r1200977_fix