RHEL 9 /etc/passwd file must be owned by root.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257906	RHEL-09-232130	SV-257906r991589_rule		Medium

Description

The "/etc/passwd" file contains information about the users that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for system security.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2025-05-14

Details

Check Text (C-61647r925703_chk)

Verify the ownership of the "/etc/passwd" file with the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%U %n" /etc/passwd

root /etc/passwd

If "/etc/passwd" file does not have an owner of "root", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61571r925704_fix)

Change the owner of the file /etc/passwd to root by running the following command:

$ sudo chown root /etc/passwd