LFCS Question #22: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

In case neither cron.allow nor cron.deny exist in /etc/, which of the following is true?

Options

• AWithout additional configuration, no users may have user specific crontabs.
• BWithout additional configuration, all users may have user specific crontabs.
• CThe cron daemon will refuse to start and report missing files in the system's logfile.
• DWhen a user creates a user specific crontab the system administrator must approve it explicitly.

Explanation

If neither /etc/cron.allow nor /etc/cron.deny files exist, the default behavior of the cron daemon is to prevent all non-root users from creating user-specific crontabs.

Common mistakes.

• B. This is incorrect; if both files are missing, the default is to deny all non-root users, not allow them.
• C. The cron daemon will start normally; the absence of these files is a configuration state, not a fatal error preventing startup.
• D. The cron system doesn't involve explicit administrative approval for user crontab creation but rather relies on allow/deny list configurations.

Concept tested. Cron access control default behavior

Reference. https://linux.die.net/man/5/crontab

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