Vulnerability Discussion

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.

Check

Verify that OL 9 does not have accounts configured with blank or null passwords with the following command:

$ sudo awk -F: '!$2 {print $1}' /etc/shadow

If the command returns any results, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure OL 9 so that all accounts have a password or lock the account with the following commands:

Perform a password reset:

$ sudo passwd [username]

To lock an account:

$ sudo passwd -l [username]