Check: GEN003140
Title
Cron and crontab directories must be group-owned by root, sys, or bin. (Cat II impact)
Discussion
To protect the integrity of scheduled system jobs and to prevent malicious modification to these jobs, crontab files must be secured. Failure to give group-ownership of cron or crontab directories to a system group provides the designated group and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
Check Content
Check the group owner of the crontab directories. Procedure: # ls -ld /var/spool/cron/crontabs If the directory is not group-owned by root, sys, or bin, this is a finding.
Fix Text
Change the group owner of the crontab directories to root, sys, or bin. Procedure: # chgrp root /var/spool/cron/crontabs
Additional Identifiers
Rule ID:
Vulnerability ID: V-981
Group Title:
Expert Comments
CCIs
Number | Definition |
---|---|
CCI-000225 |
The organization employs the concept of least privilege, allowing only authorized accesses for users (and processes acting on behalf of users) which are necessary to accomplish assigned tasks in accordance with organizational missions and business functions. |
Controls
Number | Title |
---|---|
AC-6 |
Least Privilege |