Ensure No World-Writable Files Exist
An XCCDF Rule
Description
It is generally a good idea to remove global (other) write access to a file when it is
discovered. However, check with documentation for specific applications before making changes.
Also, monitor for recurring world-writable files, as these may be symptoms of a misconfigured
application or user account. Finally, this applies to real files and not virtual files that
are a part of pseudo file systems such as sysfs or procfs.
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 files present on the system. It is not a
problem in most cases, but especially systems with a large number of files can be affected.
See
https://access.redhat.com/articles/6999111.Rationale
Data in world-writable files can be modified by any user on the system. In almost all circumstances, files can be configured using a combination of user and group permissions to support whatever legitimate access is needed without the risk caused by world-writable files.
- ID
- xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_permissions_unauthorized_world_writable
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated