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

RHEL 9 must be configured so that user and group account administration utilities are configured to store only encrypted representations of passwords.

DISA Rule

SV-258116r1045240_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258116

Group Title

SRG-OS-000073-GPOS-00041

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611135

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-004062 - For password-based authentication, store passwords using an approved salted key derivation function, preferably using a keyed hash.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 9 to use the SHA-512 algorithm for password hashing.

Add or change the following line in the "[defaults]" section of "/etc/libuser.conf" file:

crypt_style = sha512

Check Contents

Verify the user and group account administration utilities are configured to store only encrypted representations of passwords with the following command:

$ grep crypt_style /etc/libuser.conf

crypt_style = sha512

If the "crypt_style" variable is not set to "sha512", is not in the defaults section, is commented out, or does not exist, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258116

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611135

Severity Override Guidance

Verify the user and group account administration utilities are configured to store only encrypted representations of passwords with the following command:

$ grep crypt_style /etc/libuser.conf

crypt_style = sha512

If the "crypt_style" variable is not set to "sha512", is not in the defaults section, is commented out, or does not exist, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551