cis-ubuntu1204-v110-13-13

name	cis-ubuntu1204-v110-13-13
description	Check User Home Directory Ownership
category	cis-os-hardening
version	1.1.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","ubuntu",12.04,"linux","user-management","home-directory","ownership","file-permissions"]
cis_id	13.13
cis_benchmark	CIS Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Server Benchmark v1.1.0
tech_stack	["ubuntu","linux"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

13.13 Check User Home Directory Ownership (Scored)

Profile Applicability

• Level 1

Description

The user home directory is space defined for the particular user to set local environment variables and to store personal files.

Rationale

Since the user is accountable for files stored in the user home directory, the user must be the owner of the directory.

Audit Procedure

Using Command Line

This script checks to make sure users own the home directory they are assigned to in the /etc/passwd file.

#!/bin/bash
cat /etc/passwd | awk -F: '{ print $1 " " $3 " " $6 }' | while read user uid dir; do
if [ $uid -ge 500 -a -d "$dir" -a $user != "nfsnobody" ]; then
  owner=$(stat -L -c "%U" "$dir")
  if [ "$owner" != "$user" ]; then
    echo "The home directory ($dir) of user $user is owned by $owner."
  fi
fi
done

Expected Result

No output should be returned. Any output indicates home directories not owned by the assigned user.

Remediation

Using Command Line

Change the ownership of any home directories that are not owned by the defined user to the correct user.

Default Value

Home directories are owned by the user when created with useradd -m or adduser.