The /etc/shadow file is used to store the information about user accounts that is critical to the security of those accounts, such as the hashed password and other security information. Rationale: If attackers can gain read access to the /etc/shadow file, they can easily run a password cracking program against the hashed password to break it. Other security information that is stored in the /etc/shadow file (such as expiration) could also be useful to subvert the user accounts.

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If the permissions of the /etc/shadow file are incorrect, run the following commands to correct them: # /bin/chmod o-rwx,g-rw /etc/shadow