RHEL 10 must not assign an interactive login shell for system accounts.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-281168 | RHEL-10-600020 | SV-281168r1195416_rule | CCI-002696 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Ensuring shells are not given to system accounts upon login makes it more difficult for attackers to use system accounts. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-03-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-281168r1195416_chk)
Verify RHEL 10 system accounts do not have an interactive login shell with the following command:
$ awk -F: '($3<1000){print $1 ":" $3 ":" $7}' /etc/passwd
root:0:/bin/bash
bin:1:/sbin/nologin
daemon:2:/sbin/nologin
adm:3:/sbin/nologin
lp:4:/sbin/nologin
Identify the listed system accounts that have a shell other than nologin.
If any system account (other than the root account) has a login shell and it is not documented with the information system security officer (ISSO), this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-85634r1166455_fix)
Configure RHEL 10 so that all noninteractive accounts on the system do not have an interactive shell assigned to them.
If the system account needs a shell assigned for mission operations, document the need with the ISSO.
Run the following command to disable the interactive shell for a specific noninteractive user account:
Replace <user> with the user that has a login shell.
$ sudo usermod --shell /sbin/nologin <user>
Do not perform the steps in this section on the root account. Doing so will cause the system to become inaccessible.