SV-37346r1: The /etc/passwd file must not have an extended ACL. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The /etc/passwd file must not have an extended ACL.

Description

Discussion Text

File system ACLs can provide access to files beyond what is allowed by the mode numbers of the files. The /etc/passwd file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000225

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

IA Controls

ECLP-1

References

DPMS Target Red Hat 5 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat 5 2154

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

#!/bin/bash
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:513
# The /etc/passwd file must not have an extended ACL.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# The /etc/passwd file must not have an extended ACL.
# file_object (file_test)
test_1() {
  (stat -c '%A' '/etc/passwd' | awk '{print (index($0,"+")>0)?"true":"false"}') | grep -qxF 'true'
}

if test_1; then
  echo "PASS"
else
  echo "FAIL"
fi

Assessment Script Powered by AISandbox-executed

A standalone Shell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked and actually executed in an isolated sandbox (not the real system this checks) — confirmed to run without errors.

#!/bin/sh
# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:513
file="/etc/passwd"
if [ ! -f "$file" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ -s "$file" ] && [ "$(stat -c '%a' "$file")" -gt 0 ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
echo "PASS"; exit 0

Remediation

Remove the extended ACL from the file.
# setfacl --remove-all /etc/passwd