← Back to IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-245557

CAT II (Medium)

The AIX /etc/hosts file must be owned by root.

Rule ID

SV-245557r991589_rule

STIG

IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V3R2

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

Unauthorized ownership of the /etc/hosts file can lead to the ability for a malicious actor to redirect traffic to servers of their choice. It is also possible to use the /etc/hosts file to block detection by security software by blocking the traffic to all the download or update servers of well-known security vendors.

Check Content

Check the ownership of /etc/hosts using command:
# ls -al /etc/hosts

The above command should yield the following output:
-rw-r----- 1 root system 993 Mar 11 07:04 /etc/hosts

If the file is not owned by root, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Change the ownership of the file to root using command: 
# chown root /etc/hosts