OL 9 must restrict the use of the su command.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-271723 | OL09-00-002361 | SV-271723r1091881_rule | CCI-002165 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| The su program allows to run commands with a substitute user and group ID. It is commonly used to run commands as the root user. Limiting access to such commands is considered a good security practice. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Oracle Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-08 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-271723r1091881_chk)
Verify that OL 9 requires uses to be members of the "wheel" group with the following command:
$ grep pam_wheel /etc/pam.d/su
auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid
If a line for "pam_wheel.so" does not exist, or is commented out, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-75680r1091880_fix)
Configure OL 9 to require users to be in the "wheel" group to run su command.
In file "/etc/pam.d/su", uncomment the following line:
"#auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid"
Or use the following command to update /etc/pam.d/su
$ sed '/^[[:space:]]*#[[:space:]]*auth[[:space:]]\+required[[:space:]]\+pam_wheel\.so[[:space:]]\+use_uid$/s/^[[:space:]]*#//' -i /etc/pam.d/su
If necessary, create a "wheel" group and add administrative users to the group.
$ grep wheel /etc/group