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

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-245558	AIX7-00-002141	SV-245558r755115_rule		Medium

Description
Unauthorized group 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.

STIG	Date
IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-06-16

Details

Check Text ( C-48837r755113_chk )
Check the group ownership of /etc/hosts using command: # ls -al /etc/hosts The above command should yield the following output: -rw-r----- 1 root root 993 Mar 11 07:04 /etc/hosts If the file is not group-owned by root, this is a finding

Fix Text (F-48792r755114_fix)
Change the ownership of the file to root using command: # chgrp root /etc/hosts