Access to the cron utility must be controlled using the cron.allow and/or cron.deny file(s).

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-974	GEN002960	SV-27320r2_rule		Medium

Description

The cron facility allows users to execute recurring jobs on a regular and unattended basis. The cron.allow file designates accounts allowed to enter and execute jobs using the cron facility. If the cron.allow file is not present, users listed in the cron.deny file are not allowed to use the cron facility. Improper configuration of cron may open the facility up for abuse by system intruders and malicious users.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2017-03-01

Details

Check Text ( C-28457r2_chk )
This check is not applicable if only the root user is permitted to use cron. Check for the existence of the cron.allow and cron.deny files. # ls -lL /etc/cron.allow # ls -lL /etc/cron.deny If neither file exists, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-24560r2_fix)
Create /etc/cron.allow and/or /etc/cron.deny with appropriate content and reboot the system to ensure no lingering cron jobs are processed.