Ensure the Default Bash Umask is Set Correctly

This page is not yet available in Spanish. We are working on its translation.
If you have any questions or feedback about our current translation project, feel free to reach out to us!

Description

To ensure the default umask for users of the Bash shell is set properly, add or correct the umask setting in /etc/bash.bashrc to read as follows:

umask 027
         

Rationale

The umask value influences the permissions assigned to files when they are created. A misconfigured umask value could result in files with excessive permissions that can be read or written to by unauthorized users.

Remediation

Shell script

The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.

#!/bin/bash

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if dpkg-query --show --showformat='${db:Status-Status}\n' 'bash' 2>/dev/null | grep -q installed; then

var_accounts_user_umask='027'






grep -q "^[^#]*\bumask" /etc/bash.bashrc && \
  sed -i -E -e "s/^([^#]*\bumask)[[:space:]]+[[:digit:]]+/\1 $var_accounts_user_umask/g" /etc/bash.bashrc
if ! [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "umask $var_accounts_user_umask" >> /etc/bash.bashrc
fi

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

Ansible playbook

The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.

- name: Gather the package facts
  package_facts:
    manager: auto
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - accounts_umask_etc_bashrc
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy
- name: XCCDF Value var_accounts_user_umask # promote to variable
  set_fact:
    var_accounts_user_umask: !!str 027
  tags:
    - always

- name: Check if umask in /etc/bash.bashrc is already set
  ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
    path: /etc/bash.bashrc
    regexp: ^[^#]*\bumask\s+\d+$
    state: absent
  check_mode: true
  changed_when: false
  register: umask_replace
  when: '"bash" in ansible_facts.packages'
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - accounts_umask_etc_bashrc
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Replace user umask in /etc/bash.bashrc
  ansible.builtin.replace:
    path: /etc/bash.bashrc
    regexp: ^([^#]*\b)umask\s+\d+$
    replace: \g<1>umask {{ var_accounts_user_umask }}
  when:
  - '"bash" in ansible_facts.packages'
  - umask_replace.found > 0
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - accounts_umask_etc_bashrc
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy

- name: Ensure the Default umask is Appended Correctly
  ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
    create: true
    path: /etc/bash.bashrc
    line: umask {{ var_accounts_user_umask }}
  when:
  - '"bash" in ansible_facts.packages'
  - umask_replace.found == 0
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-AC-6(1)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - accounts_umask_etc_bashrc
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy