6.1.4 Ensure permissions on /etc/group are configured (Scored)

Level 1 - Server
Level 1 - Workstation 

The /etc/group file contains a list of all the valid groups defined in the system. The command below allows read/write access for root and read access for everyone else.

The /etc/group file needs to be protected from unauthorized changes by non-privileged users, but needs to be readable as this information is used with many non-privileged programs.

Run the following command and verify Uid and Gid are both 0/root and Access is 644:

# stat /etc/group 
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)

Run the following command to set permissions on /etc/group:

# chown root:root /etc/group 
# chmod 644 /etc/group