macOS
TMA-MACOS14-5.1.1
Ensure Home Folders Are Secure
Description
By default, macOS allows all valid users into the top level of every other user's home folder and restricts access to the Apple default folders within. Another user on the same system can see you have a "Documents" folder but cannot see inside it. This configuration does work for personal file sharing but can expose user files to standard accounts on the system. The best parallel for Enterprise environments is that everyone who has a Dropbox account can see everything that is at the top level but can't see your pictures. Similarly with macOS, users can see into every new Directory that is created because of the default permissions. Home folders should be restricted to access only by the user. Sharing should be used on dedicated servers or cloud instances that are managing access controls. Some environments may encounter problems if execute rights are removed as well as read and write....
How it is checked
Audit method: Shell command
out=$(/usr/bin/find /System/Volumes/Data/Users -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -not -perm 700 -not -perm 710 -not -perm 711 2>/dev/null) || exit 1
printf '%s\n' "$out" | /usr/bin/grep -v "Shared" | /usr/bin/grep -v "Guest" | /usr/bin/grep -c . || true- Expected output
0
How it is fixed
Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch
Terminal Method: For each user, run the following command to secure all home folders: % /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod -R og-rwx /Users/<username> Alternately, run the following command if there needs to be executable access for a home folder: % /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod -R og-rw /Users/<username> example: % /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod -R og-rw /Users/firstuser/ % /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod -R og-rwx /Users/thirduser/
Properties
- Operating systems
- macos-14
- Tags
- macossonoma
- Reference
- CIS Apple macOS 14.0 Sonoma Benchmark v3.1.0 - 5.1.1 Ensure Home Folders Are Secure
Check this host
Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.
tmaegis scan --target macos