IT Best Practices Tip: nist_V-38461

Severity: medium

Short Description

The /etc/group file must have mode 0644 or less permissive.

Long Description

The "/etc/group" file contains information regarding groups that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is important for system security.

How to Check Correct Configuration

To check the permissions of "/etc/group", run the command:

$ ls -l /etc/group

If properly configured, the output should indicate the following permissions: "-rw-r--r--"
If it does not, this is a finding.

How to Fix

To properly set the permissions of "/etc/group", run the command:

# chmod 644 /etc/group