RHEL 10 must not allow blank or null passwords.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-281200 | RHEL-10-600455 | SV-281200r1166552_rule | CCI-004066 | medium |
| 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 must never be used in operational environments. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-03-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-281200r1166552_chk)
Verify RHEL 10 prohibits the use of null passwords 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.
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 Text (F-85666r1166551_fix)
Configure RHEL 10 to prohibit the use of null passwords.
If PAM is managed with "authselect", use the following command to remove instances of "nullok":
$ sudo authselect enable-feature without-nullok
Otherwise, remove any instances of the "nullok" option in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" and "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" files to prevent logins with empty passwords.
Note: Manual changes to the listed file may be overwritten by the "authselect" program.