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-28720r1_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
VMware ESX 3 Server	2016-05-13

Details

Check Text ( C-29015r1_chk )
Run ls -l ntp.conf to display the owner of the NTP configuration file. If the owner is not root, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-26025r1_fix)
Change the owner of the NTP configuration file to root. # chown root ntp.conf