The time synchronization configuration file (such as /etc/ntp.conf) must be owned by root.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-22294	GEN000250	SV-37415r1_rule	ECLP-1	Medium

Description
A synchronized system clock is critical for the enforcement of time-based policies and the correlation of logs and audit records with other systems. If an illicit time source is used for synchronization, the integrity of system logs and the security of the system could be compromised. If the configuration files controlling time synchronization are not owned by a system account, unauthorized modifications could result in the failure of time synchronization.

Description

A synchronized system clock is critical for the enforcement of time-based policies and the correlation of logs and audit records with other systems. If an illicit time source is used for synchronization, the integrity of system logs and the security of the system could be compromised. If the configuration files controlling time synchronization are not owned by a system account, unauthorized modifications could result in the failure of time synchronization.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2012-05-25

Details

Check Text ( C-36098r1_chk )
Check the ownership of the NTP configuration file. # ls -l /etc/ntp.conf If the owner is not root, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-31345r1_fix)
Change the owner of the NTP configuration file. # chown root /etc/ntp.conf