4.4.4 Removal of .rhosts and .netrc files

Information

This recommendation removes all instances of .rhosts and .netrc files from the system.

Rationale:

The .rhosts and .netrc files can be used to circumvent normal login or change control procedures. The existence of such files, with the relevant entries, can allow remote user access to a system bypassing local user and password authentication. Unless required these files will be removed from all user home directories.

Solution

Remove the.rhosts and .netrc files from all user home directories:

find / -name '.netrc' -exec rm {} ;
find / -name '.rhosts' -exec rm {} ;

Default Value:

N/A

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/13069

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|CM-7b., 800-53|IA-5(7)

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f1495a9d557699bfaee63b1bc6f0d50d13fee3d28f17b8896b22eb81ae15c34b