SV-38468r2: The /etc/shadow (or equivalent) file must be owned by root. | HP-UX 11.23 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The /etc/shadow (or equivalent) file must be owned by root.

Description

Discussion Text

The /etc/shadow file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000225

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

IA Controls

ECLP-1

References

DPMS Target HP-UX 11.23 DISA DPMS Target HP-UX 11.23 2170

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

#!/bin/bash
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.fso.hpux11:def:82
# The /etc/shadow (or equivalent) file must be owned by root.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.
#
# MANUAL REVIEW REQUIRED -- the module(s) below could not be reconstructed
# into working code from curated SCC reference data, and are excluded from
# the automated result:
#   - file_object (file_test) -- /tcb/files/auth/*/* files owned by root: no extractor for field "user_id"

# /etc/shadow owned by root
# file_object (file_test)
test_1() {
  [ "$(stat -c '%u' '/etc/shadow')" -eq 0 ]
}
# /tcb directory owned by root
# file_object (file_test)
test_2() {
  [ "$(stat -c '%u' '/tcb')" -eq 0 ]
}
# /tcb/files/auth/* directories (and above) owned by root
# file_object (file_test)
test_3() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%u' '/tcb/files')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%u' '/tcb/files/auth')" -eq 0 ] )
}

if ( test_1 && test_2 && test_3 ); then
  echo "PASS (automated portion only -- MANUAL REVIEW still required, see notes above)"
else
  echo "FAIL (or see MANUAL REVIEW note above)"
fi

Assessment Script Powered by AISandbox-executed

A standalone Shell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked and actually executed in an isolated sandbox (not the real system this checks) — confirmed to run without errors.

#!/bin/sh
# OVAL definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.hpux11:def:82
if [ ! -f "/etc/shadow" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ ! -d "/tcb" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ ! -d "/tcb/files" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ ! -d "/tcb/files/auth" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ ! -d "/tcb/files/auth/" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ ! -d "/tcb/files/auth/a-z" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
for file in /tcb/files/auth/a-z/*; do
    if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then continue; fi
    if [ ! -n "$(stat -c '%U' "$file" | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
done
if [ ! -f "/etc/shadow" ] && [ ! -d "/tcb" ] && [ ! -d "/tcb/files" ] && [ ! -d "/tcb/files/auth" ] && [ ! -d "/tcb/files/auth/a-z" ] && [ ! -e "/tcb/files/auth/a-z/*" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ ! -n "$(stat -c '%U' /etc/shadow | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if [ ! -n "$(stat -c '%U' /tcb | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if [ ! -n "$(stat -c '%U' /tcb/files | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if [ ! -n "$(stat -c '%U' /tcb/files/auth | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if [ ! -n "$(ls -d /tcb/files/auth/[a-z]* | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if [ ! -n "$(ls -d /tcb/files/auth/[a-z]/* | grep root)" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
echo "PASS"; exit 0

Remediation

For Trusted Mode:
# chown root /tcb
# chown root /tcb/files /tcb/files/auth
# chown root  /tcb/files/auth/[a-z]/* 

For SMSE:
# chown root /etc/shadow