RHEL 9 must not allow blank or null passwords.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258094	RHEL-09-611025	SV-258094r926269_rule		High

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.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-01

Details

Check Text ( C-61835r926267_chk )
Verify that null passwords cannot be used with the following command: $ sudo grep -i nullok /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth If output is produced, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61759r926268_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.