Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 • Release: 7 Benchmark Date: 05 Jan 2026
CAT II V-258106 RHEL-09-611085
RHEL 9 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation.
Discussion
Without reauthentication, users may access resources or perform tasks for which they do not have authorization. When operating systems provide the capability to escalate a functional capability, it is critical that the user reauthenticate. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00156, SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00157, SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00158
Check Procedure
Verify that "/etc/sudoers" has no occurrences of "NOPASSWD" with the following command: $ sudo grep -iR 'NOPASSWD' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/ If any occurrences of "NOPASSWD" are returned from the command and have not been documented with the information system security officer (ISSO) as an organizationally defined administrative group using multifactor authentication (MFA), this is a finding.
Fix Action
Configure RHEL 9 to not allow users to execute privileged actions without authenticating with a password.
Remove any occurrence of "NOPASSWD" found in "/etc/sudoers" file or files in the "/etc/sudoers.d" directory.
$ sudo find /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d -type f -exec sed -i '/NOPASSWD/ s/^/# /g' {} \;