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6.1.5 Ensure permissions on /etc/shadow are configured

Audit#

Run the following command to verify /etc/shadow is mode 640 or more restrictive, Uid is 0/root and Gid is 0/root: 

# stat -Lc "%n %a %u/%U %g/%G" /etc/shadow

Example: 

/etc/shadow 640 0/root 42/shadow

Remediation#

Run one of the following commands to set ownership of /etc/shadow to root and group to either root or shadow: 

# chown root:shadow /etc/shadow

-OR- 

# chown root:root /etc/shadow

Run the following command to remove excess permissions form /etc/shadow: 

# chmod u-x,g-wx,o-rwx /etc/shadow

Default Value:

/etc/shadow 640 0/root 42/shadow