12.3 Verify Permissions on /etc/group

Information

The /etc/group file contains a list of all the valid groups defined in the system. The command below allows read/write access for root and read access for everyone else. The /etc/group file needs to be protected from unauthorized changes by non-privileged users, but needs to be readable as this information is used with many non-privileged programs.

Solution

If the permissions of the /etc/group file are incorrect, run the following command to correct them- # /bin/chmod 644 /etc/group

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/85

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(6), CSCv6|3.1

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 0830f46e3bdd322642f1ad4fac14bb9d9eeb4d63b28746b52824efd5ad36e781