HP-UX 11i Version 1.5 Release Notes, September 2001

HP-UX Features
Changing /dev/* permissions
Chapter 3 51
Changing /dev/* permissions
In the Administering a System: Managing System Security chapter of
Managing Systems and Workgroups, the section Controlling Security on
a Network - Link-Level Access states
To protect link-level access, make sure that the files /dev/ether*,
/dev/ieee*, and /dev/lan* are owned and writable only by root.
Changing permissions on these files and directories can cause
unforeseen and potentially detrimental side-effects due to symbolic links.
CAUTION Check for links and consider the impact of changing permissions on
these files and directories before making any changes to their
permissions.