The sticky bit must be set on all public directories on AIX systems.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-215341 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | AIX7-00-003035 | SV-215341r991589_rule | 2026-02-06 | 3 |
Description
Failing to set the sticky bit on public directories allows unauthorized users to delete files in the directory structure. The only authorized public directories are those temporary directories supplied with the system, or those designed to be temporary file repositories. The setting is normally reserved for directories used by the system, and by users for temporary file storage - such as /tmp - and for directories requiring global read/write access.
ℹ️ Check
Verify all world-writable directories have the sticky bit set by running the command:
# find / -type d -perm -002 ! -perm -1000 > wwlist
# cat wwlist
If any directories are listed in the "wwlist" file, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Set the sticky bit on all public directories, such as:
# chmod 1777 /tmp
(Replace /tmp with the public directory missing the sticky bit, if necessary.)