Verify Group Who Owns Backup passwd File
To properly set the group owner of /etc/passwd-, run the command:
$ sudo chgrp root /etc/passwd-
The /etc/passwd- file is a backup file of /etc/passwd, and as such,
it contains information about the users that are configured on the system.
Protection of this file is critical for system security.
The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.
#!/bin/bash
chgrp 0 /etc/passwd-
The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.
- name: Test for existence /etc/passwd-
stat:
path: /etc/passwd-
register: file_exists
tags:
- NIST-800-53-AC-6 (1)
- PCI-DSS-Req-8.7
- PCI-DSSv4-2.2
- PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
- configure_strategy
- file_groupowner_backup_etc_passwd
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- name: Ensure group owner 0 on /etc/passwd-
file:
path: /etc/passwd-
group: '0'
when: file_exists.stat is defined and file_exists.stat.exists
tags:
- NIST-800-53-AC-6 (1)
- PCI-DSS-Req-8.7
- PCI-DSSv4-2.2
- PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
- configure_strategy
- file_groupowner_backup_etc_passwd
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
