| name | CIS Ubuntu 14.04 LTS - 6.2.11 Ensure no users have .forward files |
| description | Verify no users have .forward files in their home directories |
| category | cis-os-hardening |
| version | 2.1.0 |
| author | cyberstrike-official |
| tags | ["cis","ubuntu","ubuntu-14.04","level-1","scored","user-accounts"] |
| cis_id | 6.2.11 |
| cis_benchmark | CIS Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS Benchmark v2.1.0 |
| tech_stack | ["ubuntu","linux"] |
| cwe_ids | [] |
| chains_with | [] |
| prerequisites | [] |
| severity_boost | medium |
6.2.11 Ensure no users have .forward files (Scored)
Profile Applicability
- Level 1 - Server
- Level 1 - Workstation
Description
The .forward file specifies an email address to forward the user's mail to.
Rationale
Use of the .forward file poses a security risk in that sensitive data may be inadvertently transferred outside the organization. The .forward file also poses a risk as it can be used to execute commands that may perform unintended actions.
Audit Procedure
Run the following script and verify no results are returned:
#!/bin/bash
cat /etc/passwd | egrep -v '^(root|halt|sync|shutdown)' | awk -F: '($7 != "/sbin/nologin" && $7 != "/bin/false") { print $1 " " $6 }' | while read user dir; do
if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then
echo "The home directory ($dir) of user $user does not exist."
else
if [ ! -h "$dir/.forward" -a -f "$dir/.forward" ]; then
echo ".forward file $dir/.forward exists"
fi
fi
done
Expected Result
No output should be returned.
Remediation
Making global modifications to users' files without alerting the user community can result in unexpected outages and unhappy users. Therefore, it is recommended that a monitoring policy be established to report user .forward files and determine the action to be taken in accordance with site policy.
Default Value
