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".

Documentable No
Rule ID SV-258085r1045173_rule
CCI References
CCI-000366

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