Verify Group Who Owns Backup gshadow File
Description
To properly set the group owner of /etc/gshadow-, run the command:
$ sudo chgrp shadow /etc/gshadow-
Rationale
The /etc/gshadow- file is a backup of /etc/gshadow, and as such,
it contains group password hashes. Protection of this file is critical for system security.
Shell script
The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.
#!/bin/bash
if getent group "42" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
newgroup="42"
fi
if [[ -z ${newgroup} ]]; then
echo "42 is not a defined group on the system"
exit 1
fi
chgrp $newgroup /etc/gshadow-
Ansible playbook
The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.
- name: Set the file_groupowner_backup_etc_gshadow_newgroup variable if represented
by gid
set_fact:
file_groupowner_backup_etc_gshadow_newgroup: '42'
tags:
- NIST-800-53-AC-6 (1)
- PCI-DSS-Req-8.7
- configure_strategy
- file_groupowner_backup_etc_gshadow
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- name: Test for existence /etc/gshadow-
stat:
path: /etc/gshadow-
register: file_exists
tags:
- NIST-800-53-AC-6 (1)
- PCI-DSS-Req-8.7
- configure_strategy
- file_groupowner_backup_etc_gshadow
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- name: Ensure group owner on /etc/gshadow-
file:
path: /etc/gshadow-
group: '{{ file_groupowner_backup_etc_gshadow_newgroup }}'
when: file_exists.stat is defined and file_exists.stat.exists
tags:
- NIST-800-53-AC-6 (1)
- PCI-DSS-Req-8.7
- configure_strategy
- file_groupowner_backup_etc_gshadow
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
