# Cis GCP Cos 6.2.13

> Ensure users' .netrc Files are not group or world accessible

- Skill: `cyberstrikeus/cis-gcp-cos-6-2-13` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cyberstrikeus/cis-gcp-cos-6-2-13`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cyberstrikeus/cis-gcp-cos-6-2-13/raw
- Safety review: PASS (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: cyberstrikeus (https://skillmd.com/u/cyberstrikeus)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cyberstrikeus/cis-gcp-cos-6-2-13

---


# 6.2.13 Ensure users' .netrc Files are not group or world accessible (Automated)

## Description

While the system administrator can establish secure permissions for users' `.netrc` files, the users can easily override these.

## Rationale

`.netrc` files may contain unencrypted passwords that may be used to attack other systems.

## Audit Procedure

Run the following script and verify no results are returned:

```bash
#!/bin/bash

grep -E -v '^(root|halt|sync|shutdown)' /etc/passwd | awk -F: '($7 != "'"$(which nologin)"'" && $7 != "/bin/false") { print $1 " " $6 }' | while read user dir; do
  if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then
    echo "The home directory ($dir) of user $user does not exist."
  else
    for file in $dir/.netrc; do
      if [ ! -h "$file" -a -f "$file" ]; then
        fileperm=$(ls -ld $file | cut -f1 -d" ")
        if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c5) != "-" ]; then
          echo "Group Read set on $file"
        fi
        if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c6) != "-" ]; then
          echo "Group Write set on $file"
        fi
        if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c7) != "-" ]; then
          echo "Group Execute set on $file"
        fi
        if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c8) != "-" ]; then
          echo "Other Read set on $file"
        fi
        if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c9) != "-" ]; then
          echo "Other Write set on $file"
        fi
        if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c10) != "-" ]; then
          echo "Other Execute set on $file"
        fi
      fi
    done
  fi
done
```

## Expected Result

No results should be returned.

## Remediation

Making global modifications to users' files without alerting the user community can result in unexpected outages and unhappy users. Therefore, it is recommended that a monitoring policy be established to report user `.netrc` file permissions and determine the action to be taken in accordance with site policy.

## Additional Information

While the complete removal of .netrc files is recommended if any are required on the system secure permissions must be applied.

On some distributions the `/sbin/nologin` should be replaced with `/usr/sbin/nologin`.

## CIS Controls

| Controls Version | Control                                               | IG 1 | IG 2 | IG 3 |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
| v8               | 3.3 Configure Data Access Control Lists               | x    | x    | x    |
| v7               | 14.6 Protect Information through Access Control Lists | x    | x    | x    |

## Profile

- Level 2 - Server