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The AIX global initialization files must contain the mesg -n or mesg n commands.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-215342 AIX7-00-003036 SV-215342r508663_rule Medium
Description
Command "mesg -n" allows only the root user the permission to send messages to your workstation to avoid having others clutter your display with incoming messages.
STIG Date
IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide 2022-06-06

Details

Check Text ( C-16540r294477_chk )
Check global initialization files for the presence of "mesg n" command by running:

# grep "mesg" /etc/profile /etc/environment /etc/security/environ /etc/security/.profile /etc/csh.login /etc/csh.cshrc
/etc/profile:mesg n
/etc/environment:mesg n

If any global initialization file does not contain "mesg n", or it contains the "mesg y" command, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-16538r294478_fix)
Edit the global initialization files that do not contain "mesg n" command and add the following line to the initialization files:
mesg n