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

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-245557	AIX7-00-002140	SV-245557r818794_rule		Medium

Description
Unauthorized 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	2022-06-06

Details

Check Text ( C-48836r818792_chk )
Check the ownership of /etc/hosts using command: # ls -al /etc/hosts The above command should yield the following output: -rw-r----- 1 root system 993 Mar 11 07:04 /etc/hosts If the file is not owned by root, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-48791r818793_fix)
Change the ownership of the file to root using command: # chown root /etc/hosts