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
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
- Updated
Remediation - Shell Script
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 {} +