Documents for accounts

Code [acc001w]

The listed login ID is disabled in some manner ('*' in passwd field, etc), but the login shell for the login ID is a valid shell (from /etc/shells or the system equivalent). A valid shell can potentially enable the login ID to continue to be used. The login shell should be changed to something that doesn't exist, or to something like /bin/false.

Code [acc002i]

The listed login ID is disabled, but has a potentially valid shell. These can usually be safely ignored.

Code [acc003w]

The listed login ID is disabled in some manner ('*' in passwd field, etc), but the .forward file is setup to execute programs. This can allow the login ID to continue to be used despite the fact that it is disabled. The .forward file should be checked and probably removed.

Code [acc004w]

The listed login ID is disabled in some manner ('*' in passwd field, etc), but a non-zero length .rhosts file. This can allow the login ID to continue to be used. Unless this has been specifically set up to provide some service, it should be removed.

Code [acc005w]

The listed login ID is disabled in some manner ('*' in passwd field, etc), but has a 'cron' file or 'cron' entries. This allows commands to be executed on behalf of the login ID, potentially allowing access to the login ID. These should be removed unless specifically set up to provide a service.

Code [acc006w]

The home directory of the listed login ID has group write permission, world write permission or both enabled. This allows new files to be added (and existing files potentially removed) by others. The write permissions should be removed.

Code [acc007a]

The listed login ID has a '.hushlogin' file which is not zero-length. This file is normally a zero length file. This file is frequently used by intruders as a place to store captured passwords. This file should be looked at. If it appears to be such a log file, then the system should be regarded as being compromised. The system should be thoroughly checked and cleaned.

Code [acc008w]

The listed login ID has a configuration file which has group write permission, word write permission, or both enabled. This allows others to change this file, compromising the login ID.

Code [acc009a]

The login ID 'sync' has no password and the shell is not /bin/sync, which is what it normally is. This could indicate an intrusion has occurred. If the shell is one of the normal shells (/bin/sh, /bin/csh, etc), then this is very likely the situation. The login ID should be disabled, or the shell reset to '/bin/sync'.

Code [acc010a]

The listed login ID has a user ID of zero (0) and does not have a password. This could indicate an intrusion has occurred. This should be disabled immediately and the machine checked and cleaned.

Code [acc010aw]

The listed login ID has a user ID of zero (0) and does not have a password. This could indicate an intrusion has occurred. This should be disabled immediately and the machine checked and cleaned.

On this system, comments are not allowed in the password file. An attempt to comment out an entry simply results in a login ID which begins with a '#'. See message ID 'acc013w' for more information.

Code [acc011w]

The listed login ID does not have a password. Anyone can use this account, allowing them to explore the system for other security problems. Unless this is a secure captured account, this should be corrected.

Code [acc011wc]

On this system, comments are not allowed in the password file. An attempt to comment out an entry simply results in a login ID which begins with a '#'. See message ID 'acc013w' for more information.

Code [acc012w]

The listed login ID has a user ID of zero (0) and is not the 'root' account. This should be checked to see if it is legitimate. In any case, having login ID's with a user ID of zero tends to lead to security problems, and should be avoided (except for 'root')

Code [acc012wc]

On this system, comments are not allowed in the password file. An attempt to comment out an entry simply results in a login ID which begins with a '#'. See message ID 'acc013w' for more information.

Code [acc013w]

On this system, comments are not allowed in the password file. An attempt to comment out an entry simply results in a login ID which begins with a '#'. For example:

#joeuser:zqa4324x2423x:234:23:Joe User:/home/joeuser:/bin/csh

indicates a user with the username '#joeuser'. The account has not been disabled, it has simply been renamed. Such entries should be deleted from the system.

Code [acc014f]

The root user (UID 0) should not be having "/" (system root directory) as its home drive. This is a possible security hole.

Code [acc015w]

The listed login ID has a duplicate home directory with another login ID. This should be remedied to prevent permission problems.

Code [acc017w]

The listed login ID does not have corresponding entries in both the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow databases. This may indicate tampering with either file.

Code [acc018w]

The listed administrative login should have an impossible password. Files owned by this login ID may reside in critical system directories and compromise of this account could lead to trojan executables in typical search paths.

Code [acc019w]

The listed login ID may be missing a login program initialization file. This file controls the behaviour of the login process and of many important environment variables.

Code [acc020w]

The listed login ID does not have a valid login program or shell. Usually these are defined in /etc/shells.

Code [acc021w]

The listed login ID appears to be dormant. Files in the home directory of this user have not been modified in the specified period of time and after investigation the account may need to be disabled.

Code [acc022w]

The listed login ID has a home directory which is not accessible. This should be checked to see if this is due to networking problem for remote home directories. Without a valid home directory, the user will end up with / as the home directory.

Code [acc023w]

The user's parent directory does not have the correct administrative permissions. It generally should not have write access for groups & others.

Code [acc024f]

There is a user in the system (which might or might not have a valid password) that has not logged into the system since he/she was created. If the user is not disabled (can log in to the system), the user's password is the default which might be vulnerable to brute-force attacks (or might even be empty). This check is based on the 'lastlog' file, see lastlog(8), if this file has been reset then these checks might send false positives.