6.2.12 Ensure no users have .netrc files

Information

The .netrc file presents a significant security risk since it stores passwords in unencrypted form. Even if FTP is disabled, user accounts may have brought over .netrc files from other systems which could pose a risk to those systems.

Solution

Making global modifications to users' files without alerting the user community can result in unexpected outages and unhappy users. Therefore, it is recommended that a monitoring policy be established to report user .netrc files and determine the action to be taken in accordance with site policy.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/1861

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(7), CSCv6|9.1

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f9db0e4e1997eaf38002c41e10452e08bcd00c308548f8e00520b7de8cc167d0