SV-37381r2: The /etc/passwd file must not contain password hashes. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The /etc/passwd file must not contain password hashes.

Description

Discussion Text

If password hashes are readable by non-administrators, the passwords are subject to attack through lookup tables or cryptographic weaknesses in the hashes.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000201

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:112
# The /etc/passwd file must not contain password hashes.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# test for no passwd hashes
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  (sed -En 's/^[^:]+:([^:]+)/\1/p' '/etc/passwd') | grep -Pq '^x$'
}

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:112
if [ ! -f "/etc/passwd" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if grep -q '^x$' /etc/passwd; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; else echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi

Remediation

Migrate /etc/passwd password hashes to /etc/shadow.
# pwconv