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

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-245558	AIX7-00-002141	SV-245558r818797_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	2022-06-06

Details

Check Text ( C-48837r818795_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 system 993 Mar 11 07:04 /etc/hosts If the file is not group-owned by system, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-48792r818796_fix)
Change the group ownership of the file to system using command: # chgrp system /etc/hosts