Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 • Release: 7 Benchmark Date: 05 Jan 2026
CAT II V-258085 RHEL-09-432020
RHEL 9 must use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".
Discussion
If the rootpw, targetpw, or runaspw flags are defined and not disabled, by default the operating system will prompt the invoking user for the "root" user password.
Check Procedure
Verify that the sudoers security policy is configured to use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation with the following command: $ sudo egrep -ir '(!rootpw|!targetpw|!runaspw)' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/ | grep -v '#' /etc/sudoers:Defaults !targetpw /etc/sudoers:Defaults !rootpw /etc/sudoers:Defaults !runaspw If no results are returned, this is a finding. If results are returned from more than one file location, this is a finding. If "Defaults !targetpw" is not defined, this is a finding. If "Defaults !rootpw" is not defined, this is a finding. If "Defaults !runaspw" is not defined, this is a finding.
Fix Action
Define the following in the Defaults section of the /etc/sudoers file or a single configuration file in the /etc/sudoers.d/ directory: Defaults !targetpw Defaults !rootpw Defaults !runaspw