SV-258085r1045173: RHEL 9 must use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo". | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

RHEL 9 must use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".

Description

Discussion Text

If the rootpw, targetpw, or runaspw flags are defined and not disabled, by default the operating system will prompt the invoking user for the "root" user password.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000366

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 5551

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.rhel9os:def:258085
# RHEL 9 must use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Defaults !targetpw in /etc/sudoers
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*Defaults\s+!targetpw\s*$' '/etc/sudoers' &>/dev/null
}
# Defaults !rootpw in /etc/sudoers
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_2() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*Defaults\s+!rootpw\s*$' '/etc/sudoers' &>/dev/null
}
# Defaults !runaspw in /etc/sudoers
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_3() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*Defaults\s+!runaspw\s*$' '/etc/sudoers' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/sudoers.d included in /etc/sudoers
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_4() {
  (sed -En 's/^\s*[#@]includedir\s+(\S+)\s*$/\1/p' '/etc/sudoers') | grep -qxF '/etc/sudoers.d'
}
# Defaults !targetpw in /etc/sudoers.d
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_5() {
  grep -P '^\s*Defaults\s+!targetpw\s*$'  &>/dev/null
}
# Defaults !rootpw in /etc/sudoers.d
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_6() {
  grep -P '^\s*Defaults\s+!rootpw\s*$'  &>/dev/null
}
# Defaults !runaspw in /etc/sudoers.d
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_7() {
  grep -P '^\s*Defaults\s+!runaspw\s*$'  &>/dev/null
}

if ( ( test_1 && test_2 && test_3 ) || ( test_4 && test_5 && test_6 && test_7 ) ); 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.stig.rhel9os:def:258085

if grep -q '^\\s*Defaults\\s+!targetpw\\s*$' /etc/sudoers || \
   grep -q '^\\s*Defaults\\s+!rootpw\\s*$' /etc/sudoers || \
   grep -q '^\\s*Defaults\\s+!runaspw\\s*$' /etc/sudoers || \
   [ -n "$(grep -E '^\\s*[#@]includedir\\s+/etc/sudoers\\.d\\s*$' /etc/sudoers && \
   grep -q '^\\s*Defaults\\s+!targetpw\\s*$' /etc/sudoers.d/*)" ]; then
   echo "PASS"
   exit 0
else
   echo "FAIL"
   exit 1
fi

Remediation

Define the following in the Defaults section of the /etc/sudoers file or a single configuration file in the /etc/sudoers.d/ directory:

Defaults !targetpw
Defaults !rootpw
Defaults !runaspw