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7.1.6 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 'Access: (%#a/%A) Uid: ( %u/ %U) Gid: ( %g/ %G)' /etc/shadow-

Example: 

Access: (0640/-rw-r-----) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 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: Access: (0640/-rw-r-----) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 42/ shadow)