Cron must not execute group-writable or world-writable programs.

From Oracle Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000225

SV-64405r1_rule Cron must not execute group-writable or world-writable programs.

Vulnerability discussion

If cron executes group-writable or world-writable programs, there is a possibility that unauthorized users could manipulate the programs with malicious intent. This could compromise system and network security.

Check content

List all cronjobs on the system. Procedure: # ls /var/spool/cron # ls /etc/cron.d /etc/crontab /etc/cron.daily /etc/cron.hourly /etc/cron.monthly /etc/cron.weekly or # ls /etc/cron*|grep -v deny If cron jobs exist under any of the above directories, use the following command to search for programs executed by cron: # more Perform a long listing of each program file found in the cron file to determine if the file is group-writable or world-writable. # ls -la If cron executes group-writable or world-writable files, this is a finding.

Fix text

Remove the world-writable and group-writable permissions from the cron program file(s) identified. # chmod go-w

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