CIS Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS Benchmark v2.0.0 - Control 6.2.10
Profile
- Level: 1 - Server
- Level: 1 - Workstation
- Assessment Status: Automated
Description
While no .rhosts files are shipped by default, users can easily create them.
Rationale
This action is only meaningful if .rhosts support is permitted in the file /etc/pam.conf. Even though the .rhosts files are ineffective if support is disabled in /etc/pam.conf, they may have been brought over from other systems and could contain information useful to an attacker for those other systems.
Audit Procedure
Command Line
Run the following script and verify no lines are returned:
#!/bin/bash
awk -F: '($1!~/(root|halt|sync|shutdown)/ &&
$7!~/^(\/usr)?\/sbin\/nologin(\/)?\$/ && $7!~/(\/usr)?\/bin\/false(\/)?\$/) {
print $1 " " $6 }' /etc/passwd | while read -r user dir; do
if [ -d "$dir" ]; then
file="$dir/.rhosts"
if [ ! -h "$file" ] && [ -f "$file" ]; then
echo "User: \"$user\" file: \"$file\" exists"
fi
fi
done
Expected Result
No output should be returned.
Remediation
Command Line
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 .rhosts files and determine the action to be taken in accordance with site policy.
The following script will remove .rhosts files from interactive users' home directories:
#!/bin/bash
awk -F: '($1!~/(root|halt|sync|shutdown)/ &&
$7!~/^(\/usr)?\/sbin\/nologin(\/)?\$/ && $7!~/(\/usr)?\/bin\/false(\/)?\$/) {
print $6 }' /etc/passwd | while read -r dir; do
if [ -d "$dir" ]; then
file="$dir/.rhosts"
[ ! -h "$file" ] && [ -f "$file" ] && rm -r "$file"
fi
done
Default Value
N/A
References
N/A
CIS Controls
| Controls Version | Control | IG 1 | IG 2 | IG 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| v7 | 16.4 Encrypt or Hash all Authentication CredentialsEncrypt or hash with a salt all authentication credentials when stored. |