Detections
Analytics

1.268 ALMA-09-034120

Information

AlmaLinux OS 9 SSHD must not allow blank passwords.

GROUP ID: V-269374
RULE ID: SV-269374r1050257

If an account has an empty password, anyone could log on and run commands with the privileges of that account.

Accounts with empty passwords should never be used in operational environments.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053, SRG-OS-000108-GPOS-00055

Solution

Configure the SSH daemon to prevent users logging in with blank passwords.

Add the following line to "/etc/ssh/sshd_config", or uncomment the line and set the value to "yes":

PermitEmptyPasswords no

Alternatively, add the setting to an include file if the line "Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf" is found at the top of the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file:

$ cat << EOF | tee /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/emptypasswords.conf

PermitEmptyPasswords no
EOF

Restart the SSH daemon for the settings to take effect:

$ systemctl restart sshd.service

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/27039

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-2(2), CCI|CCI-000766, Rule-ID|SV-269374r1050257_rule, STIG-ID|ALMA-09-034120, Vuln-ID|V-269374

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 7f29f552a26579183471bcaac1c60ac03b0d958001cb5b93fa24d423a8e1f76e