SV-258118r1050789: RHEL 9 must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 STIG SCAP Benchmark

Loading benchmark…

Assessment Title

Rule Text

RHEL 9 must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation.

Description

Discussion Text

Without reauthentication, users may access resources or perform tasks for which they do not have authorization. When operating systems provide the capability to escalate a functional capability, it is critical the user reauthenticate. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156, SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00157, SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00158

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-004895Not mappedCCI-002038

References

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

Checks

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

Verify the operating system is not configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation with the following command:

$ sudo grep pam_succeed_if /etc/pam.d/sudo 

If any occurrences of "pam_succeed_if" are returned, this is a finding.

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:258118
# RHEL 9 must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# pam_succeed_if is not present in /etc/pam.d/sudo
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  ! ( grep -Pq '^\s*[^#\n]*\bpam_succeed_if\b' '/etc/pam.d/sudo' &>/dev/null )
}

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.stig.rhel9os:def:258118
if [ ! -f "/etc/pam.d/sudo" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if grep -q "^\\s*[^#\\n]*\\bpam_succeed_if\\b" /etc/pam.d/sudo; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
echo "PASS"
exit 0

Remediation

Configure the operating system to require users to supply a password for privilege escalation.

Remove any occurrences of " pam_succeed_if " in the  "/etc/pam.d/sudo" file.