All global initialization files must be group-owned by wheel.

From MAC OSX 10.6 Workstation Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with IA controls: ECLP-1

Associated with: CCI-000225

SV-38061r1_rule All global initialization files must be group-owned by wheel.

Vulnerability discussion

Global initialization files are used to configure the user's shell environment upon login. Malicious modification of these files could compromise accounts upon logon. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to the group wheel provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.

Check content

Open a terminal session and enter the following commands to verify the group ownership on the global initialization files. ls -l /etc/bashrc ls -l /etc/csh.cshrc ls -l /etc/csh.login ls -l /etc/csh.logout ls -l /etc/profile If any global initialization file is not group owned by wheel, this is a finding.

Fix text

Open a terminal session and use the following command to set the group ownership of the global initialization files. chgrp wheel /etc/

Pro Tips

Lavender hyperlinks in small type off to the right (of CSS class id, if you view the page source) point to globally unique URIs for each document and item. Copy the link location and paste anywhere you need to talk unambiguously about these things.

You can obtain data about documents and items in other formats. Simply provide an HTTP header Accept: text/turtle or Accept: application/rdf+xml.