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/91

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

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

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 1b5d60837d4ffee7cbfa49d6164ff7a5bc9cebb7974f31be2e48dc85f9296a05