The /etc/passwd file must not contain password hashes.

From HP-UX 11.31 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Part of GEN001470

Associated with IA controls: ECLP-1

Associated with: CCI-000201

SV-38323r2_rule The /etc/passwd file must not contain password hashes.

Vulnerability discussion

If password hashes are readable by non-administrators, the passwords are subject to attack through lookup tables or cryptographic weaknesses in the hashes.

Check content

Verify no password hashes are present in /etc/passwd. # cat /etc/passwd | cut -f 2,2 -d “:” If any password hashes are returned, this is a finding.

Fix text

Migrate /etc/passwd password hashes. For Trusted Mode: Use the System Administration Manager (SAM) or the System Management Homepage (SMH) to migrate from a non-SMSE Standard Mode to Trusted Mode. For SMSE Mode: Use the following command to create the shadow file. The command will then copy all encrypted passwords into the shadow file and replace the passwd file password entries with an “x”. # pwconv

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