Details

The contents of the /etc/motd file are displayed to users after login and function as a message of the day for authenticated users.

Rationale:

If the /etc/motd file does not have the correct ownership it could be modified by unauthorized users with incorrect or misleading information.

Solution

Run the following commands to set permissions on /etc/motd:

# chown root:root /etc/motd
# chmod 644 /etc/motd

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2619

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Configuration Management.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|CM-6
• CSCv6|3.1
• CSCv7|5.1

Source

• Tenable.com/audits