6.1.5 Ensure the Guest Home Folder Does Not Exist

Information

In the previous two controls, the guest account login has been disabled and sharing to guests has been disabled, as well. There is no need for the legacy Guest home folder to remain in the file system. When normal user accounts are removed, you have the option to archive it, leave it in place, or delete. In the case of the guest folder, the folder remains in place without a GUI option to remove it. If at some point in the future a Guest account is needed, it will be re-created. The presence of the Guest home folder can cause automated audits to fail when looking for compliant settings within all User folders, as well. Rather than ignoring the folder's continued existence, it is best removed.

Rationale:

The Guest home folders are unneeded after the Guest account is disabled and could be used inappropriately.

Impact:

The Guest account should not be necessary after it is disabled, and it will be automatically re-created if the Guest account is re-enabled

Solution

Terminal Method:
Run the following command to remove the Guest user home folder:

$ /usr/bin/sudo /bin/rm -R /Users/Guest

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/4176

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM AND SERVICES ACQUISITION

References: 800-53|CM-1, 800-53|CM-2, 800-53|CM-6, 800-53|CM-7, 800-53|CM-7(1), 800-53|CM-9, 800-53|SA-3, 800-53|SA-8, 800-53|SA-10, CSCv7|5.1

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: cf5d8e09eb8a40377c52f5c858eea844ad6cb0e87e42f4b2ac5af3f1d7d922c7