STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 9 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 9 SSHD must not allow blank passwords.

DISA Rule

SV-257984r1045026_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-257984

Group Title

SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053

Rule Version

RHEL-09-255040

Severity

CAT I

CCI(s)

• CCI-000766 - Implement multifactor authentication for network access to non-privileged accounts.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

To configure the system to prevent SSH users from logging on with blank passwords edit the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" or in a file in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d":

PermitEmptyPasswords no

Restart the SSH daemon for the settings to take effect:

$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

Check Contents

Verify that RHEL 9 remote access using SSH prevents logging on with a blank password with the following command:

$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*permitemptypasswords'

PermitEmptyPasswords no

If the "PermitEmptyPasswords" keyword is set to "yes", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-257984

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-255040

Severity Override Guidance

Verify that RHEL 9 remote access using SSH prevents logging on with a blank password with the following command:

$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*permitemptypasswords'

PermitEmptyPasswords no

If the "PermitEmptyPasswords" keyword is set to "yes", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551