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

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257900	RHEL-09-232100	SV-257900r991589_rule		Medium

Description

The "/etc/group-" file is a backup file of "/etc/group", and as such, 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-61641r925685_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-61565r925686_fix)

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

$ sudo chown root /etc/group-