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Verify that system commands directories have root ownership

An XCCDF Rule

Description

System commands are stored in the following directories by default: 

/bin 
/sbin 
/usr/bin 
/usr/sbin 
/usr/local/bin 
/usr/local/sbin
All these directories should be owned by the root user. If any system command directory is not owned by a user other than root correct its ownership with the following command: 
$ sudo chown root DIR

Rationale

If the operating system were to allow any user to make changes to software libraries, then those changes might be implemented without undergoing the appropriate testing and approvals that are part of a robust change management process. This requirement applies to operating systems with software libraries that are accessible and configurable, as in the case of interpreted languages. Software libraries also include privileged programs which execute with escalated privileges. Only qualified and authorized individuals must be allowed to obtain access to information system components for purposes of initiating changes, including upgrades and modifications.

ID
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_dir_system_commands_root_owned
Severity
Medium
References
Updated



Remediation - Ansible

- name: Set ownership of directories that contain system commands to root
  file:
    path: '{{ item }}'
    owner: root
    recurse: 'yes'
    state: directory

Remediation - Shell Script


for SYSCMDDIRS in /bin /sbin /usr/bin /usr/sbin /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin
do
   find -L $SYSCMDDIRS \! -user root -type d -exec chown root {} \; 
done