Title

The cron.allow file must be group-owned by root, bin, or sys. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

If the group of the cron.allow is not set to root, bin, or sys, the possibility exists for an unauthorized user to view or edit the list of users permitted to use cron. Unauthorized modification of this file could cause Denial of Service to authorized cron users or provide unauthorized users with the ability to run cron jobs.

Check Content

Check the group ownership of the file. Procedure: # ls -lL /etc/cron.d/cron.allow If the file is not group-owned by root, bin, or sys, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Change the group ownership of the file. Procedure: # chgrp root /etc/cron.d/cron.allow

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-227760r603266_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-227760

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.