AlmaLinux OS 9 must not allow blank or null passwords.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-269218 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | ALMA-09-015750 | SV-269218r1050100_rule | 2025-02-20 | 1 |
| Description |
|---|
| If an account has an empty password, anyone could log in and run commands with the privileges of that account. Accounts with empty passwords should never be used in operational environments. |
| ℹ️ Check |
|---|
| Verify that null passwords cannot be used with the following command: $ grep -i nullok /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth If output is produced, this is a finding. If the system administrator (SA) can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the system-auth file, this is not a finding. |
| ✔️ Fix |
|---|
| Remove any instances of the "nullok" option in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" and "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" files to prevent logons with empty passwords. Note: Manual changes to the listed file may be overwritten by the "authselect" program. |