RHEL 9 must generate audit records for all account creations, modifications, disabling, and termination events that affect /etc/shadow.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258223 | RHEL-09-654245 | SV-258223r1015134_rule | CCI-000018 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| In addition to auditing new user and group accounts, these watches will alert the system administrator(s) to any modifications. Any unexpected users, groups, or modifications should be investigated for legitimacy. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000004-GPOS-00004, SRG-OS-000037-GPOS-00015, SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00020, SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000304-GPOS-00121, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000462-GPOS-00206, SRG-OS-000470-GPOS-00214, SRG-OS-000471-GPOS-00215, SRG-OS-000239-GPOS-00089, SRG-OS-000240-GPOS-00090, SRG-OS-000241-GPOS-00091, SRG-OS-000303-GPOS-00120, SRG-OS-000466-GPOS-00210, SRG-OS-000476-GPOS-00221 | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258223r1015134_chk)
Verify RHEL 9 generates audit records for all account creations, modifications, disabling, and termination events that affect "/etc/passwd with the following command:
$ sudo auditctl -l | egrep '(/etc/shadow)'
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k identity
If the command does not return a line, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-61888r926655_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to generate audit records for all account creations, modifications, disabling, and termination events that affect "/etc/shadow".
Add or update the following file system rule to "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules":
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k identity
The audit daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect.