In Unix file system permissions, the "others" category refers to all users except the owner of the file system resource and the
members of the group assigned to this resource.
Granting permissions to this category can lead to unintended access to files or directories that could allow attackers to obtain sensitive
information, disrupt services or elevate privileges.
Ask Yourself Whether
- The application is designed to be run on a multi-user environment.
- Corresponding files and directories may contain confidential information.
There is a risk if you answered yes to any of those questions.
Recommended Secure Coding Practices
The most restrictive possible permissions should be assigned to files and directories.
Sensitive Code Example
For os.umask:
os.umask(0) # Sensitive
For os.chmod, os.lchmod, and os.fchmod:
os.chmod("/tmp/fs", stat.S_IRWXO) # Sensitive
os.lchmod("/tmp/fs", stat.S_IRWXO) # Sensitive
os.fchmod(fd, stat.S_IRWXO) # Sensitive
Compliant Solution
For os.umask:
os.umask(0o777)
For os.chmod, os.lchmod, and os.fchmod:
os.chmod("/tmp/fs", stat.S_IRWXU)
os.lchmod("/tmp/fs", stat.S_IRWXU)
os.fchmod(fd, stat.S_IRWXU)
See
