Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set

An XCCDF Rule

Description

When the so-called 'sticky bit' is set on a directory, only the owner of a given file may remove that file from the directory. Without the sticky bit, any user with write access to a directory may remove any file in the directory. Setting the sticky bit prevents users from removing each other's files. In cases where there is no reason for a directory to be world-writable, a better solution is to remove that permission rather than to set the sticky bit. However, if a directory is used by a particular application, consult that application's documentation instead of blindly changing modes.
To set the sticky bit on a world-writable directory DIR, run the following command:

$ sudo chmod +t DIR

warning alert: Warning

This rule can take a long time to perform the check and might consume a considerable amount of resources depending on the number of directories present on the system. It is not a problem in most cases, but especially systems with a large number of directories can be affected. See https://access.redhat.com/articles/6999111.

Rationale

Failing to set the sticky bit on public directories allows unauthorized users to delete files in the directory structure.

The only authorized public directories are those temporary directories supplied with the system, or those designed to be temporary file repositories. The setting is normally reserved for directories used by the system, by users for temporary file storage (such as /tmp), and for directories requiring global read/write access.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
Severity: Medium
References: BP28(R40)

12 13 14 15 16 18 3 5

APO01.06 DSS05.04 DSS05.07 DSS06.02

CCI-001090

4.3.3.7.3

SR 2.1 SR 5.2

A.10.1.1 A.11.1.4 A.11.1.5 A.11.2.1 A.13.1.1 A.13.1.3 A.13.2.1 A.13.2.3 A.13.2.4 A.14.1.2 A.14.1.3 A.6.1.2 A.7.1.1 A.7.1.2 A.7.3.1 A.8.2.2 A.8.2.3 A.9.1.1 A.9.1.2 A.9.2.3 A.9.4.1 A.9.4.4 A.9.4.5

CIP-003-8 R5.1.1 CIP-003-8 R5.3 CIP-004-6 R2.3 CIP-007-3 R2.1 CIP-007-3 R2.2 CIP-007-3 R2.3 CIP-007-3 R5.1 CIP-007-3 R5.1.1 CIP-007-3 R5.1.2

AC-6(1) CM-6(a)

PR.AC-4 PR.DS-5

SRG-OS-000138-GPOS-00069

2.2.6
Updated: 8 months ago

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Define Excluded
    (Non-Local) File Systems and Paths
  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    excluded_fstypes:
    - afs
    - ceph    - cifs
    - smb3
    - smbfs
    - sshfs
    - ncpfs
    - ncp
    - nfs
    - nfs4
    - gfs
    - gfs2
    - glusterfs
    - gpfs
    - pvfs2
    - ocfs2
    - lustre
    - davfs
    - fuse.sshfs
    excluded_paths:
    - dev
    - proc
    - run
    - sys
    search_paths: []
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Find Relevant
    Root Directories Ignoring Pre-Defined Excluded Paths
  ansible.builtin.find:
    paths: /
    file_type: directory
    excludes: '{{ excluded_paths }}'
    hidden: true
    recurse: false
  register: result_relevant_root_dirs
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Include
    Relevant Root Directories in a List of Paths to be Searched
  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    search_paths: '{{ search_paths | union([item.path]) }}'
  loop: '{{ result_relevant_root_dirs.files }}'
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Increment
    Search Paths List with Local Partitions Mount Points
  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    search_paths: '{{ search_paths | union([item.mount]) }}'
  loop: '{{ ansible_mounts }}'
  when:
  - item.fstype not in excluded_fstypes
  - item.mount != '/'
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Increment
    Search Paths List with Local NFS File System Targets
  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    search_paths: '{{ search_paths | union([item.device.split('':'')[1]]) }}'
  loop: '{{ ansible_mounts }}'
  when: item.device is search("localhost:")
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Define Rule
    Specific Facts
  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    world_writable_dirs: []
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Find All
    Uncompliant Directories in Local File Systems
  ansible.builtin.command:
    cmd: find {{ item }} -xdev -type d ( -perm -0002 -a ! -perm -1000 )
  loop: '{{ search_paths }}'
  changed_when: false
  register: result_found_dirs
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Create List
    of World Writable Directories Without Sticky Bit
  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
    world_writable_dirs: '{{ world_writable_dirs | union(item.stdout_lines) | list
      }}'
  loop: '{{ result_found_dirs.results }}'
  when: result_found_dirs is not skipped and item is not skipped
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set - Ensure Sticky
    Bit is Set on Local World Writable Directories
  ansible.builtin.file:
    path: '{{ item }}'
    mode: a+t
  loop: '{{ world_writable_dirs }}'
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - dir_perms_world_writable_sticky_bits
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

df --local -P | awk '{if (NR!=1) print $6}' \
| xargs -I '$6' find '$6' -xdev -type d \
\( -perm -0002 -a ! -perm -1000 \) 2>/dev/null \
-exec chmod a+t {} +

Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set

Description

Rationale

Remediation - Ansible

Remediation - Shell Script