Ensure users' .netrc Files are not group or world accessible
Scanned 9/3/2026
Install to Claude Code
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---
name: cis-gcp-cos-6.2.13
description: "Ensure users' .netrc Files are not group or world accessible"
category: cis-gcp-cos
version: "1.2.0"
author: cyberstrike-official
tags: [cis, gcp, container-optimized-os, user-accounts, netrc]
cis_id: "6.2.13"
cis_benchmark: "CIS Google Container-Optimized OS Benchmark v1.2.0"
tech_stack: [gcp, linux]
cwe_ids: []
chains_with: []
prerequisites: []
severity_boost: {}
---
# 6.2.13 Ensure users' .netrc Files are not group or world accessible (Automated)
## Description
While the system administrator can establish secure permissions for users' `.netrc` files, the users can easily override these.
## Rationale
`.netrc` files may contain unencrypted passwords that may be used to attack other systems.
## Audit Procedure
Run the following script and verify no results are returned:
```bash
#!/bin/bash
grep -E -v '^(root|halt|sync|shutdown)' /etc/passwd | awk -F: '($7 != "'"$(which nologin)"'" && $7 != "/bin/false") { print $1 " " $6 }' | while read user dir; do
if [ ! -d "$dir" ]; then
echo "The home directory ($dir) of user $user does not exist."
else
for file in $dir/.netrc; do
if [ ! -h "$file" -a -f "$file" ]; then
fileperm=$(ls -ld $file | cut -f1 -d" ")
if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c5) != "-" ]; then
echo "Group Read set on $file"
fi
if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c6) != "-" ]; then
echo "Group Write set on $file"
fi
if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c7) != "-" ]; then
echo "Group Execute set on $file"
fi
if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c8) != "-" ]; then
echo "Other Read set on $file"
fi
if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c9) != "-" ]; then
echo "Other Write set on $file"
fi
if [ $(echo $fileperm | cut -c10) != "-" ]; then
echo "Other Execute set on $file"
fi
fi
done
fi
done
```
## Expected Result
No results should be returned.
## Remediation
Making global modifications to users' files without alerting the user community can result in unexpected outages and unhappy users. Therefore, it is recommended that a monitoring policy be established to report user `.netrc` file permissions and determine the action to be taken in accordance with site policy.
## Additional Information
While the complete removal of .netrc files is recommended if any are required on the system secure permissions must be applied.
On some distributions the `/sbin/nologin` should be replaced with `/usr/sbin/nologin`.
## CIS Controls
| Controls Version | Control | IG 1 | IG 2 | IG 3 |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
| v8 | 3.3 Configure Data Access Control Lists | x | x | x |
| v7 | 14.6 Protect Information through Access Control Lists | x | x | x |
## Profile
- Level 2 - Server
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