Skip to content
Log In

Verify Permissions On /etc/sysctl.d Directory

An XCCDF Rule

Description

To properly set the permissions of /etc/sysctl.d, run the command: 
$ sudo chmod 0755 /etc/sysctl.d

Rationale

Setting correct permissions on the /etc/sysctl.d directory is important because this directory hosts kernel configuration. Protection of this directory is critical for system security. Restricting the permissions ensures exclusive control of the kernel configuration.

ID
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_directory_permissions_etc_sysctld
Severity
Medium
References
Updated

Remediation Templates

A Shell Script

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if rpm --quiet -q kernel; then
find -H /etc/sysctl.d/ -maxdepth 1 -perm /u+s,g+ws,o+wt -type d -exec chmod u-s,g-ws,o-wt {} \;

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

An Ansible Snippet

- name: Gather the package facts
  package_facts:
    manager: auto
  tags:
  - configure_strategy
  - directory_permissions_etc_sysctld