6.1.4 Ensure permissions on /etc/group are configured

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

Run the following commands to set owner, group, and permissions on /etc/group :

# chown root:root /etc/group

# chmod u-x,g-wx,o-wx /etc/group

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/8498