IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

The IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide (V3 R4) has 282 STIG checks. New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist?, CKL vs CKLB, and STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

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Severity

Version

V3 · R4

CurrentPublished Wed Sep 30 2026

AIX device files and directories must only be writable by users with a system account or as configured by the vendor.

IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

AIX device files and directories must only be writable by users with a system account or as configured by the vendor.

Description

Discussion Text

System device files in writable directories could be modified, removed, or used by an unprivileged user to control system hardware.

New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist? and CKL vs CKLB.

Objective

V-215184

Rule

SV-215184r991560_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

AIX7-00-001019

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

Find all device files existing anywhere on the system using commands:
# find / -type b -print | xargs ls -l > devicelistB
# find / -type c -print | xargs ls -l > devicelistC 

Look at devicelistB and devicelistC files to check the permissions on the device files and directories above the subdirectories containing device files.

If any of the device files or their parent directories are world-writable, excepting device files specifically intended to be world-writable, such as "/dev/null", this is a finding.

Implementation Procedure

Fix Text

Remove the world-writable permission from the device file(s) using command:
# chmod o-w <device file>

STIG check 16 of 282 in the IBM AIX 7.x STIG checklist

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