RHEL 10 must not have accounts configured with blank or null passwords.

STIG ID: RHEL-10-600460  |  SRG: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037 |  Severity: medium (CAT II)  |  CCI: CCI-004066 |  Vulnerability Id: V-281201

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 RHEL 10 prohibits null or blank 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 RHEL 10 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]