RHEL 9 /etc/group file must be owned by root.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257898	RHEL-09-232090	SV-257898r991589_rule		Medium

Description

The "/etc/group" file contains information regarding groups that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is important for system security.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2025-05-14

Details

Check Text (C-61639r925679_chk)

Verify the ownership of the "/etc/group" file with the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%U %n" /etc/group

root /etc/group

If "/etc/group" file does not have an owner of "root", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61563r925680_fix)

Change the owner of the file /etc/group to root by running the following command:

$ sudo chown root /etc/group