SV-252940r991589: TOSS must not allow blank or null passwords in the system-auth file. | Tri-Lab Operating System Stack (TOSS) 4 STIG SCAP Benchmark

Loading benchmark…

Assessment Title

Rule Text

TOSS must not allow blank or null passwords in the system-auth file.

Description

Discussion Text

If an account has an empty password, anyone could log on and run commands with the privileges of that account. Accounts with empty passwords should never be used in operational environments.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000366

References

DPMS Target TOSS 4 DISA DPMS Target TOSS 4 5469

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.toss4os:def:252940
# TOSS must not allow blank or null passwords in the system-auth file.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# There are no instances of nullok in /etc/pam.d/system-auth.
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  ! ( grep -Pq '\bnullok\b' '/etc/pam.d/system-auth' &>/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.toss4os:def:252940
if [ ! -f "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if grep -q "\\bnullok\\b" /etc/pam.d/system-auth; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
echo "PASS"; exit 0

Remediation

Remove any instances of the "nullok" option in the "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" file to prevent logons with empty passwords.

Note: Manual changes to the listed file may be overwritten by the "authselect" program.