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Set the UEFI Boot Loader Admin Username to a Non-Default Value

An XCCDF Rule

Description

The grub2 boot loader should have a superuser account and password protection enabled to protect boot-time settings.

To maximize the protection, select a password-protected superuser account with unique name, and modify the /etc/grub.d/01_users configuration file to reflect the account name change.

It is highly suggested not to use common administrator account names like root, admin, or administrator for the grub2 superuser account.

Change the superuser to a different username (The default is 'root').

$ sed -i 's/\(set superusers=\).*/\1"<unique user ID>"/g' /etc/grub.d/01_users


Once the superuser account has been added, update the grub.cfg file by running:
grubby --update-kernel=ALL

warning alert: Warning

To prevent hard-coded admin usernames, automatic remediation of this control is not available. Remediation must be automated as a component of machine provisioning, or followed manually as outlined above. Also, do NOT manually add the superuser account and password to the grub.cfg file as the grub2-mkconfig command overwrites this file.

Rationale

Having a non-default grub superuser username makes password-guessing attacks less effective.

ID
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_grub2_uefi_admin_username
Severity
Medium
References
Updated