Description

Set the mode on files being executed by the user initialization files with the following command:

$ sudo chmod o-w FILE
        

Rationale

If user start-up files execute world-writable programs, especially in unprotected directories, they could be maliciously modified to destroy user files or otherwise compromise the system at the user level. If the system is compromised at the user level, it is easier to elevate privileges to eventually compromise the system at the root and network level.

Remediation

Shell script

The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.

#!/bin/bash

readarray -t world_writable_files < <(find / -xdev -type f -perm -0002 2> /dev/null)
readarray -t interactive_home_dirs < <(awk -F':' '{ if ($3 >= 1000 && $3 != 65534) print $6 }' /etc/passwd)

for world_writable in "${world_writable_files[@]}"; do
    for homedir in "${interactive_home_dirs[@]}"; do
        if grep -q -d skip "$world_writable" "$homedir"/.*; then
            chmod o-w $world_writable
            break
        fi
    done
done