SV-281027r1268226: RHEL 10 must be configured so that the "/etc/passwd-" file is owned by "root". | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

RHEL 10 must be configured so that the "/etc/passwd-" file is owned by "root".

Description

Discussion Text

The "/etc/passwd-" file is a backup file of "/etc/passwd", and as such contains information about the users that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for system security.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000213

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 5733

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.stig.rhel10os:def:281027
# RHEL 10 must be configured so that the "/etc/passwd-" file is owned by "root".
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# /etc/passwd- file is owned by root
# file_object (file_test)
test_1() {
  [ "$(stat -c '%u' '/etc/passwd-')" -eq 0 ]
}

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:mil.disa.stig.rhel10os:def:281027
if [ ! -f "/etc/passwd-" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ "$(stat -c "%U" "/etc/passwd-")" != "root" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
echo "PASS"
exit 0

Remediation

Configure RHEL 10 so that the owner of the "/etc/passwd-" file is set to "root" by running the following command:

$ sudo chown root /etc/passwd-