Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 • Release: 7 Benchmark Date: 05 Jan 2026

CAT II V-257906 RHEL-09-232130

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

Documentable No
Rule ID SV-257906r991589_rule
CCI References
CCI-000366

Discussion

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

Check Procedure

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 Action

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

$ sudo chown root /etc/passwd