Level 1 - Server Level 1 - Workstation
Although the groupadd program will not let you create a duplicate Group ID (GID), it is possible for an administrator to manually edit the /etc/group file and change the GID field.
User groups must be assigned unique GIDs for accountability and to ensure appropriate access protections.
Run the following script and verify no results are returned:
#!/bin/bash
cat /etc/group | cut -f3 -d":" | sort -n | uniq -c | while read x ; do
[ -z "${x}" ] && break
set - $x
if [ $1 -gt 1 ]; then
groups=`awk -F: '($3 == n) { print $1 }' n=$2 /etc/group | xargs`
echo "Duplicate GID ($2): ${groups}"
fi
done
Based on the results of the audit script, establish unique GIDs and review all files owned by the shared GID to determine which group they are supposed to belong to.
You can also use the grpck command to check for other inconsistencies in the /etc/group file.