Cis GCP Cos 6.2.9

6.2.9 Ensure users own their home directories (Automated)

Description

The user home directory is space defined for the particular user to set local environment variables and to store personal files.

Rationale

Since the user is accountable for files stored in the user home directory, the user must be the owner of the directory.

Audit Procedure

Run the following script and verify no results are returned:

#!/bin/bash

grep -E -v '^(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 $user does not exist."
  else
    owner=$(stat -L -c "%U" "$dir")
    if [ "$owner" != "$user" ]; then
      echo "The home directory ($dir) of user $user is owned by $owner."
    fi
  fi
done

Expected Result

No results should be returned.

Remediation

Change the ownership of any home directories that are not owned by the defined user to the correct user.

Additional Information

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

CIS Controls

Profile

• Level 2 - Server