UCF STIG Viewer Logo

All local interactive users must have a home directory assigned in the /etc/passwd file.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-215004 UBTU-16-010720 SV-215004r610931_rule Medium
Description
If local interactive users are not assigned a valid home directory, there is no place for the storage and control of files they should own.
STIG Date
Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Security Technical Implementation Guide 2020-12-09

Details

Check Text ( C-16203r284880_chk )
Verify local interactive users on the Ubuntu operating system have a home directory assigned.

Check for missing local interactive user home directories with the following command:

# sudo pwck -r
user 'lp': directory '/var/spool/lpd' does not exist
user 'news': directory '/var/spool/news' does not exist
user 'uucp': directory '/var/spool/uucp' does not exist
user 'www-data': directory '/var/www' does not exist

Ask the System Administrator (SA) if any users found without home directories are local interactive users. If the SA is unable to provide a response, check for users with a User Identifier (UID) of 1000 or greater with the following command:

# sudo cut -d: -f 1,3 /etc/passwd | egrep ":[1-4][0-9]{2}$|:[0-9]{1,2}$"

If any interactive users do not have a home directory assigned, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-16201r284881_fix)
Assign home directories to all local interactive users on the Ubuntu operating system that currently do not have a home directory assigned.