← Back to SLES 12 Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-217164

CAT I (High)

The SUSE operating system root account must be the only account having unrestricted access to the system.

Rule ID

SV-217164r991589_rule

STIG

SLES 12 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V3R2

CCIs

V-77179

Discussion

If an account other than root also has a User Identifier (UID) of "0", it has root authority, giving that account unrestricted access to the entire SUSE operating system. Multiple accounts with a UID of "0" afford an opportunity for potential intruders to guess a password for a privileged account.

Check Content

Verify that the SUSE operating system root account is the only account with unrestricted access to the system.

Check the system for duplicate UID "0" assignments with the following command:

# awk -F: '$3 == 0 {print $1}' /etc/passwd

root

If any accounts other than root have a UID of "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Change the UID of any account on the SUSE operating system, other than the root account, that has a UID of "0". 

If the account is associated with system commands or applications, the UID should be changed to one greater than "0" but less than "1000". Otherwise, assign a UID of greater than "1000" that has not already been assigned.