RHEL 9 library files must be group-owned by root or a system account.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257921	RHEL-09-232205	SV-257921r1106308_rule		Medium

Description

If RHEL 9 allowed 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 RHEL 9 with software libraries that are accessible and configurable, as in the case of interpreted languages. Software libraries also include privileged programs that execute with escalated privileges.

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

Details

Check Text (C-61662r1101921_chk)

Verify the systemwide shared library files contained in the directories "/lib", "/lib64", "/usr/lib", and "/usr/lib64" are group owned by root with the following command:

$ sudo find /lib /lib64 /usr/lib /usr/lib64 -type f -name '*.so*' ! -group root -exec stat -c "%n %G" {} +

If any output is returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61586r1106307_fix)

Configure the systemwide shared library files contained in the directories "/lib", "/lib64", "/usr/lib", and "/usr/lib64" to be group owned by root with the following command:

$ sudo find /lib /lib64 /usr/lib /usr/lib64 -type f -name '*.so*' ! -group root -exec chown :root {} +