RHEL 9 must generate audit records for all account creations, modifications, disabling, and termination events that affect /etc/passwd.

STIG ID: RHEL-09-654240  |  SRG: SRG-OS-000004-GPOS-00004 |  Severity: medium |  CCI: CCI-000015,CCI-000018,CCI-000130,CCI-000135,CCI-000169,CCI-000172,CCI-001403,CCI-001404,CCI-001405,CCI-002130,CCI-002884,CCI-001683,CCI-001684,CCI-001685,CCI-001686,CCI-002132 |  Vulnerability Id: V-258222

Vulnerability Discussion

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, SRG-OS-000274-GPOS-00104, SRG-OS-000275-GPOS-00105, SRG-OS-000276-GPOS-00106, SRG-OS-000277-GPOS-00107

Check

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/passwd)'

-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k identity

If the command does not return a line, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure RHEL 9 to generate audit records for all account creations, modifications, disabling, and termination events that affect "/etc/passwd".

Add or update the following file system rule to "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules":

-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k identity

The audit daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
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