SV-37285r1: All global initialization files must be group-owned by root, sys, bin, other, system, or the system default. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

All global initialization files must be group-owned by root, sys, bin, other, system, or the system default.

Description

Discussion Text

Global initialization files are used to configure the user's shell environment upon login. Malicious modification of these files could compromise accounts upon logon. 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 Red Hat 5 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat 5 2154

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.rhel11:def:131
# All global initialization files must be group-owned by root, sys, bin, other, system, or the system default.
# 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) -- check /etc/profile.d directory files are group-owned by root, bin, or sys: no extractor for field "group_id"

# check /etc/csh.cshrc file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_1() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.cshrc')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.cshrc')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.cshrc')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/profile file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_2() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/profile')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/profile')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/profile')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/bashrc file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_3() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/bashrc')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/bashrc')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/bashrc')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/environment file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_4() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/environment')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/environment')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/environment')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/csh.login file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_5() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.login')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.login')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.login')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/csh.logout file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_6() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.logout')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.logout')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/csh.logout')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/ksh.kshrc file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_7() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/ksh.kshrc')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/ksh.kshrc')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/ksh.kshrc')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/suid_profile file is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_8() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/suid_profile')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/suid_profile')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/suid_profile')" -eq 3 ] )
}
# check /etc/profile.d directory is group-owned by root, bin, or sys
# file_object (file_test)
test_9() {
  ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/profile.d')" -eq 0 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/profile.d')" -eq 1 ] ) || ( [ "$(stat -c '%g' '/etc/profile.d')" -eq 3 ] )
}

if ( test_1 && test_2 && test_3 && test_4 && test_5 && test_6 && test_7 && test_8 && test_9 ); 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.rhel11:def:131
if [ ! -f "/etc/csh.cshrc" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/csh.cshrc")" = "root" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/csh.cshrc")" = "sys" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/csh.cshrc")" = "bin" ]; then :; else chgrp root /etc/csh.cshrc; fi
if [ ! -f "/etc/profile" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/profile")" = "root" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/profile")" = "sys" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/profile")" = "bin" ]; then :; else chgrp root /etc/profile; fi
if [ ! -f "/etc/bashrc" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/bashrc")" = "root" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/bashrc")" = "sys" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/bashrc")" = "bin" ]; then :; else chgrp root /etc/bashrc; fi
if [ ! -f "/etc/environment" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/environment")" = "root" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/environment")" = "sys" ] || [ "$(stat -c "%G" "/etc/environment")" = "bin" ]; then :; else chgrp root /etc/environment; fi
echo "PASS"
exit 0

Remediation

Change the group ownership of the global initialization file(s) with incorrect group ownership.

Procedure:
# chgrp root <global initialization file>
or:
# ls -lL /etc/bashrc /etc/csh.cshrc /etc/csh.login /etc/csh.logout /etc/environment /etc/ksh.kshrc /etc/profile /etc/suid_profile /etc/profile.d/* 2>null|sed "s/^[^\/]*//"|xargs stat -L -c %G:%n|egrep -v "^(root|sys|bin|other):"|cut -d: -f2|xargs chgrp root
will set the group of all files not currently owned by an approved group to root.