The /etc/hosts.allow file contains networking information that is used by many applications and therefore must be readable for these applications to operate.
Rationale:
It is critical to ensure that the /etc/hosts.allow file is protected from unauthorized write access. Although it is protected by default, the file permissions could be changed either inadvertently or through malicious actions.
[permission 644]
If the permissions of the /etc/hosts.allow file are incorrect, run the following command to correct them:
# /bin/chmod 644 /etc/hosts.allow
oval:org.secpod.oval:def:92362
oval:org.secpod.oval:def:85087
oval:org.secpod.oval:def:65928
SCAP Repo OVAL Definition
2023-08-23