All local interactive users must have a home directory assigned in the /etc/passwd file.

From Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000366

SV-90239r1_rule All local interactive users must have a home directory assigned in the /etc/passwd file.

Vulnerability discussion

If local interactive users are not assigned a valid home directory, there is no place for the storage and control of files they should own.

Check content

Verify local interactive users on the Ubuntu operating system have a home directory assigned. Check for missing local interactive user home directories with the following command: # sudo pwck -r user 'lp': directory '/var/spool/lpd' does not exist user 'news': directory '/var/spool/news' does not exist user 'uucp': directory '/var/spool/uucp' does not exist user 'www-data': directory '/var/www' does not exist Ask the System Administrator (SA) if any users found without home directories are local interactive users. If the SA is unable to provide a response, check for users with a User Identifier (UID) of 1000 or greater with the following command: # sudo cut -d: -f 1,3 /etc/passwd | egrep ":[1-4][0-9]{2}$|:[0-9]{1,2}$" If any interactive users do not have a home directory assigned, this is a finding.

Fix text

Assign home directories to all local interactive users on the Ubuntu operating system that currently do not have a home directory assigned.

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