Title

The AIX /etc/hosts file must have a mode of 0640 or less permissive. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Unauthorized permissions of the /etc/hosts file can lead to the ability for a malicious actor to redirect traffic to servers of their choice. It is also possible to use the /etc/hosts file to block detection by security software by blocking the traffic to all the download or update servers of well-known security vendors.

Check Content

Check the mode of /etc/hosts using command: # ls -al /etc/hosts The above command should yield the following output: -rw-r----- 1 root system 993 Mar 11 07:04 /etc/hosts If the file has a mode more permissive than "0640", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Change the mode of the file to 0640 using command: # chmod 0640 /etc/hosts

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-245559r991589_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-245559

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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