Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 • Release: 7 Benchmark Date: 05 Jan 2026

CAT II V-257898 RHEL-09-232090

RHEL 9 /etc/group file must be owned by root.

Documentable No
Rule ID SV-257898r991589_rule
CCI References
CCI-000366

Discussion

The "/etc/group" file contains information regarding groups that are configured on the system. Protection of this file is important for system security.

Check Procedure

Verify the ownership of the "/etc/group" file with the following command:

$ sudo stat -c "%U %n" /etc/group 

root /etc/group 

If "/etc/group" file does not have an owner of "root", this is a finding.

Fix Action

Change the owner of the file /etc/group to root by running the following command:

$ sudo chown root /etc/group