OpenControls Logo

STIG Viewer

STIGViewer Support

RHEL 10 must be configured so that SSHD does not allow blank passwords.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-281264RHEL-10-700610SV-281264r1184764_ruleCCI-000766medium
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. OpenSSH uses the first occurrence of a keyword it sees, and drop-in files are read in lexicographical order at the start of the configuration. Red Hat recommends using drop-in files rather than changing base configuration files. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00229
STIGDate
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide2026-03-11

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 4 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (7) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

IAC-06Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
0.50
IAC-06.1Network Access to Privileged Accounts
0.50
IAC-06.2Network Access to Non-Privileged Accounts
0.50
IAC-06.3Local Access to Privileged Accounts
0.50
IAC-06.4Out-of-Band Multi-Factor Authentication
0.50
IAC-10.7Hardware Token-Based Authentication
0.50
TDA-02.2Information Assurance Enabled Products
0.50
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (65) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-10Concurrent Session Control
1.00
AC-11Device Lock
1.00
AC-11(1)Pattern-hiding Displays
1.00
AC-17(10)Authenticate Remote Commands
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(10)Shared and Group Account Credential Change
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(2)Automated Temporary and Emergency Account Management
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00

+55 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (1) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.5.3
1.00
CCI1 mapping
CCI-000766
1.00

Details

Check Text (C-281264r1184764_chk)

Verify RHEL 10 remote access using SSH prevents logging on with a blank password with the following command: $ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*permitemptypasswords' /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/10-stig.conf:PermitEmptyPasswords no Verify the runtime setting with the following command: $ sudo sshd -T | grep -i permitemptypasswords permitemptypasswords no If the "PermitEmptyPasswords" keyword is not set to "no" in a drop-in that lexicographically precedes 50-redhat.conf, or if no output is returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-85730r1166743_fix)

Configure RHEL 10 to prevent SSH users from logging on with blank passwords. In "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d", create a drop file that will lexicographically precede 50-redhat.conf and add the following line: PermitEmptyPasswords no Restart the SSH daemon with the following command for the settings to take effect: $ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service