Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

This guide presents a catalog of security-relevant configuration settings for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. It is a rendering of content structured in the eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) in order to support security automation. The SCAP content is is available in the scap-security-guide package which is developed at https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide.

Providing system administrators with such guidance informs them how to securely configure systems under their control in a variety of network roles. Policy makers and baseline creators can use this catalog of settings, with its associated references to higher-level security control catalogs, in order to assist them in security baseline creation. This guide is a catalog, not a checklist, and satisfaction of every item is not likely to be possible or sensible in many operational scenarios. However, the XCCDF format enables granular selection and adjustment of settings, and their association with OVAL and OCIL content provides an automated checking capability. Transformations of this document, and its associated automated checking content, are capable of providing baselines that meet a diverse set of policy objectives. Some example XCCDF Profiles, which are selections of items that form checklists and can be used as baselines, are available with this guide. They can be processed, in an automated fashion, with tools that support the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). The DISA STIG for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, which provides required settings for US Department of Defense systems, is one example of a baseline created from this guidance.

This benchmark is a direct port of a SCAP Security Guide benchmark developed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It has been modified through an automated process to remove specific dependencies on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and to function with CentOS. The result is a generally useful SCAP Security Guide benchmark with the following caveats:

  • CentOS is not an exact copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. There may be configuration differences that produce false positives and/or false negatives. If this occurs please file a bug report.
  • CentOS has its own build system, compiler options, patchsets, and is a community supported, non-commercial operating system. CentOS does not inherit certifications or evaluations from Red Hat Enterprise Linux. As such, some configuration rules (such as those requiring FIPS 140-2 encryption) will continue to fail on CentOS.

Members of the CentOS community are invited to participate in OpenSCAP and SCAP Security Guide development. Bug reports and patches can be sent to GitHub: https://github.com/OpenSCAP/scap-security-guide. The mailing list is at https://fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/scap-security-guide.

Do not attempt to implement any of the settings in this guide without first testing them in a non-operational environment. The creators of this guidance assume no responsibility whatsoever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic.
Profile ID(default)

Revision History

Current version: 0.1.31

  • draft (as of 2017-03-31)

Platforms

  • cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:4
  • cpe:/o:centos:centos:4
  • cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:5
  • cpe:/o:centos:centos:5

Table of Contents

  1. Remediation functions used by the SCAP Security Guide Project
  2. Introduction
    1. General Principles
    2. How to Use This Guide
  3. System Settings
    1. Installing and Maintaining Software
    2. File Permissions and Masks
    3. SELinux
    4. Account and Access Control
    5. Network Configuration and Firewalls
    6. Configure Syslog
    7. System Accounting with auditd
  4. Services
    1. Obsolete Services
    2. Base Services
    3. Cron and At Daemons
    4. SSH Server
    5. X Window System
    6. DHCP
    7. Network Time Protocol
    8. Mail Server Software
    9. LDAP
    10. NFS and RPC
    11. FTP Server
    12. Samba(SMB) Microsoft Windows File Sharing Server
    13. SNMP Server

Checklist

Remediation functions used by the SCAP Security Guide Project   [ref]group

XCCDF form of the various remediation functions as used by remediation scripts from the SCAP Security Guide Project

Introduction   [ref]group

The purpose of this guidance is to provide security configuration recommendations and baselines for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 operating system. Recommended settings for the basic operating system are provided, as well as for many network services that the system can provide to other systems. The guide is intended for system administrators. Readers are assumed to possess basic system administration skills for Unix-like systems, as well as some familiarity with the product's documentation and administration conventions. Some instructions within this guide are complex. All directions should be followed completely and with understanding of their effects in order to avoid serious adverse effects on the system and its security.

General Principles   [ref]group

The following general principles motivate much of the advice in this guide and should also influence any configuration decisions that are not explicitly covered.

Encrypt Transmitted Data Whenever Possible   [ref]group

Data transmitted over a network, whether wired or wireless, is susceptible to passive monitoring. Whenever practical solutions for encrypting such data exist, they should be applied. Even if data is expected to be transmitted only over a local network, it should still be encrypted. Encrypting authentication data, such as passwords, is particularly important. Networks of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 machines can and should be configured so that no unencrypted authentication data is ever transmitted between machines.

Minimize Software to Minimize Vulnerability   [ref]group

The simplest way to avoid vulnerabilities in software is to avoid installing that software. On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, the RPM Package Manager (originally Red Hat Package Manager, abbreviated RPM) allows for careful management of the set of software packages installed on a system. Installed software contributes to system vulnerability in several ways. Packages that include setuid programs may provide local attackers a potential path to privilege escalation. Packages that include network services may give this opportunity to network-based attackers. Packages that include programs which are predictably executed by local users (e.g. after graphical login) may provide opportunities for trojan horses or other attack code to be run undetected. The number of software packages installed on a system can almost always be significantly pruned to include only the software for which there is an environmental or operational need.

Run Different Network Services on Separate Systems   [ref]group

Whenever possible, a server should be dedicated to serving exactly one network service. This limits the number of other services that can be compromised in the event that an attacker is able to successfully exploit a software flaw in one network service.

Configure Security Tools to Improve System Robustness   [ref]group

Several tools exist which can be effectively used to improve a system's resistance to and detection of unknown attacks. These tools can improve robustness against attack at the cost of relatively little configuration effort. In particular, this guide recommends and discusses the use of host-based firewalling, SELinux for protection against vulnerable services, and a logging and auditing infrastructure for detection of problems.

Least Privilege   [ref]group

Grant the least privilege necessary for user accounts and software to perform tasks. For example, sudo can be implemented to limit authorization to super user accounts on the system only to designated personnel. Another example is to limit logins on server systems to only those administrators who need to log into them in order to perform administration tasks. Using SELinux also follows the principle of least privilege: SELinux policy can confine software to perform only actions on the system that are specifically allowed. This can be far more restrictive than the actions permissible by the traditional Unix permissions model.

How to Use This Guide   [ref]group

Readers should heed the following points when using the guide.

Read Sections Completely and in Order   [ref]group

Each section may build on information and recommendations discussed in prior sections. Each section should be read and understood completely; instructions should never be blindly applied. Relevant discussion may occur after instructions for an action.

Test in Non-Production Environment   [ref]group

This guidance should always be tested in a non-production environment before deployment. This test environment should simulate the setup in which the system will be deployed as closely as possible.

Root Shell Environment Assumed   [ref]group

Most of the actions listed in this document are written with the assumption that they will be executed by the root user running the /bin/bash shell. Commands preceded with a hash mark (#) assume that the administrator will execute the commands as root, i.e. apply the command via sudo whenever possible, or use su to gain root privileges if sudo cannot be used. Commands which can be executed as a non-root user are are preceded by a dollar sign ($) prompt.

Formatting Conventions   [ref]group

Commands intended for shell execution, as well as configuration file text, are featured in a monospace font. Italics are used to indicate instances where the system administrator must substitute the appropriate information into a command or configuration file.

Reboot Required   [ref]group

A system reboot is implicitly required after some actions in order to complete the reconfiguration of the system. In many cases, the changes will not take effect until a reboot is performed. In order to ensure that changes are applied properly and to test functionality, always reboot the system after applying a set of recommendations from this guide.

System Settings   [ref]group

Contains rules that check correct system settings.

Installing and Maintaining Software   [ref]group

The following sections contain information on security-relevant choices during the initial operating system installation process and the setup of software updates.

Disk Partitioning   [ref]group

To ensure separation and protection of data, there are top-level system directories which should be placed on their own physical partition or logical volume. The installer's default partitioning scheme creates separate logical volumes for /, /boot, and swap.

  • If starting with any of the default layouts, check the box to "Review and modify partitioning." This allows for the easy creation of additional logical volumes inside the volume group already created, though it may require making /'s logical volume smaller to create space. In general, using logical volumes is preferable to using partitions because they can be more easily adjusted later.
  • If creating a custom layout, create the partitions mentioned in the previous paragraph (which the installer will require anyway), as well as separate ones described in the following sections.
If a system has already been installed, and the default partitioning scheme was used, it is possible but nontrivial to modify it to create separate logical volumes for the directories listed above. The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) makes this possible. See the LVM HOWTO at http://tldp.org/HOWTO/LVM-HOWTO/ for more detailed information on LVM.

Updating Software   [ref]group

The yum command line tool is used to install and update software packages. The system also provides a graphical software update tool in the System menu, in the Administration submenu, called Software Update.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems contain an installed software catalog called the RPM database, which records metadata of installed packages. Consistently using yum or the graphical Software Update for all software installation allows for insight into the current inventory of installed software on the system.

Software Integrity Checking   [ref]group

Both the AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment) software and the RPM package management system provide mechanisms for verifying the integrity of installed software. AIDE uses snapshots of file metadata (such as hashes) and compares these to current system files in order to detect changes. The RPM package management system can conduct integrity checks by comparing information in its metadata database with files installed on the system.

Integrity checking cannot prevent intrusions, but can detect that they have occurred. Requirements for software integrity checking may be highly dependent on the environment in which the system will be used. Snapshot-based approaches such as AIDE may induce considerable overhead in the presence of frequent software updates.

Verify Integrity with AIDE   [ref]group

AIDE conducts integrity checks by comparing information about files with previously-gathered information. Ideally, the AIDE database is created immediately after initial system configuration, and then again after any software update. AIDE is highly configurable, with further configuration information located in /usr/share/doc/aide-VERSION.

Verify Integrity with RPM   [ref]group

The RPM package management system includes the ability to verify the integrity of installed packages by comparing the installed files with information about the files taken from the package metadata stored in the RPM database. Although an attacker could corrupt the RPM database (analogous to attacking the AIDE database as described above), this check can still reveal modification of important files. To list which files on the system differ from what is expected by the RPM database:

# rpm -qVa
See the man page for rpm to see a complete explanation of each column.

Additional Security Software   [ref]group

Additional security software that is not provided or supported by Red Hat can be installed to provide complementary or duplicative security capabilities to those provided by the base platform. Add-on software may not be appropriate for some specialized systems.

File Permissions and Masks   [ref]group

Traditional Unix security relies heavily on file and directory permissions to prevent unauthorized users from reading or modifying files to which they should not have access.

Several of the commands in this section search filesystems for files or directories with certain characteristics, and are intended to be run on every local partition on a given system. When the variable PART appears in one of the commands below, it means that the command is intended to be run repeatedly, with the name of each local partition substituted for PART in turn.

The following command prints a list of all xfs partitions on the local system, which is the default filesystem for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 installations:

$ mount -t xfs | awk '{print $3}'
For any systems that use a different local filesystem type, modify this command as appropriate.

Restrict Partition Mount Options   [ref]group

System partitions can be mounted with certain options that limit what files on those partitions can do. These options are set in the /etc/fstab configuration file, and can be used to make certain types of malicious behavior more difficult.

Restrict Dynamic Mounting and Unmounting of Filesystems   [ref]group

Linux includes a number of facilities for the automated addition and removal of filesystems on a running system. These facilities may be necessary in many environments, but this capability also carries some risk -- whether direct risk from allowing users to introduce arbitrary filesystems, or risk that software flaws in the automated mount facility itself could allow an attacker to compromise the system.

This command can be used to list the types of filesystems that are available to the currently executing kernel:

# find /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/fs -type f -name '*.ko'
If these filesystems are not required then they can be explicitly disabled in a configuratio file in /etc/modprobe.d.

Verify Permissions on Important Files and Directories   [ref]group

Permissions for many files on a system must be set restrictively to ensure sensitive information is properly protected. This section discusses important permission restrictions which can be verified to ensure that no harmful discrepancies have arisen.

Verify File Permissions Within Some Important Directories   [ref]group

Some directories contain files whose confidentiality or integrity is notably important and may also be susceptible to misconfiguration over time, particularly if unpackaged software is installed. As such, an argument exists to verify that files' permissions within these directories remain configured correctly and restrictively.

Restrict Programs from Dangerous Execution Patterns   [ref]group

The recommendations in this section are designed to ensure that the system's features to protect against potentially dangerous program execution are activated. These protections are applied at the system initialization or kernel level, and defend against certain types of badly-configured or compromised programs.

Disable Core Dumps   [ref]group

A core dump file is the memory image of an executable program when it was terminated by the operating system due to errant behavior. In most cases, only software developers legitimately need to access these files. The core dump files may also contain sensitive information, or unnecessarily occupy large amounts of disk space.

Once a hard limit is set in /etc/security/limits.conf, a user cannot increase that limit within his or her own session. If access to core dumps is required, consider restricting them to only certain users or groups. See the limits.conf man page for more information.

The core dumps of setuid programs are further protected. The sysctl variable fs.suid_dumpable controls whether the kernel allows core dumps from these programs at all. The default value of 0 is recommended.

Enable ExecShield   [ref]group

ExecShield describes kernel features that provide protection against exploitation of memory corruption errors such as buffer overflows. These features include random placement of the stack and other memory regions, prevention of execution in memory that should only hold data, and special handling of text buffers. These protections are enabled by default and controlled through sysctl variables kernel.exec-shield and kernel.randomize_va_space.

SELinux   [ref]group

SELinux is a feature of the Linux kernel which can be used to guard against misconfigured or compromised programs. SELinux enforces the idea that programs should be limited in what files they can access and what actions they can take.

The default SELinux policy, as configured on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, has been sufficiently developed and debugged that it should be usable on almost any Red Hat machine with minimal configuration and a small amount of system administrator training. This policy prevents system services - including most of the common network-visible services such as mail servers, FTP servers, and DNS servers - from accessing files which those services have no valid reason to access. This action alone prevents a huge amount of possible damage from network attacks against services, from trojaned software, and so forth.

This guide recommends that SELinux be enabled using the default (targeted) policy on every Red Hat system, unless that system has requirements which make a stronger policy appropriate.

Enable SELinux   [ref]group

Edit the file /etc/selinux/config. Add or correct the following lines:

SELINUX=enforcing
SELINUXTYPE=targeted
Edit the file /etc/grub.conf. Ensure that the following arguments DO NOT appear on any kernel command line in the file:
selinux=0
enforcing=0
The directive SELINUX=enforcing enables SELinux at boot time. If SELinux is suspected of involvement with boot-time problems (unlikely), it is possible to boot into the warning-only mode SELINUX=permissive for debugging purposes. Make certain to change the mode back to enforcing after debugging, set the filesystems to be relabeled for consistency using the command touch /.autorelabel, and reboot.

However, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 default SELinux configuration should be sufficiently reasonable that most systems will boot without serious problems. Some applications that require deep or unusual system privileges, such as virtual machine software, may not be compatible with SELinux in its default configuration. However, this should be uncommon, and SELinux's application support continues to improve. In other cases, SELinux may reveal unusual or insecure program behavior by design.

The directive SELINUXTYPE=targeted configures SELinux to use the default targeted policy.

The SELinux boot mode specified in /etc/selinux/config can be overridden by command-line arguments passed to the kernel. It is necessary to check grub.conf to ensure that this has not been done and to protect the boot process.

Account and Access Control   [ref]group

In traditional Unix security, if an attacker gains shell access to a certain login account, they can perform any action or access any file to which that account has access. Therefore, making it more difficult for unauthorized people to gain shell access to accounts, particularly to privileged accounts, is a necessary part of securing a system. This section introduces mechanisms for restricting access to accounts under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Special Privileged Accounts Exist   [ref]group

The system must not have special privilege accounts, such as shutdown, reboot, halt, ftp, games, gopher, and news.

Protect Accounts by Restricting Password-Based Login   [ref]group

Conventionally, Unix shell accounts are accessed by providing a username and password to a login program, which tests these values for correctness using the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files. Password-based login is vulnerable to guessing of weak passwords, and to sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks against passwords entered over a network or at an insecure console. Therefore, mechanisms for accessing accounts by entering usernames and passwords should be restricted to those which are operationally necessary.

Restrict Root Logins   [ref]group

Direct root logins should be allowed only for emergency use. In normal situations, the administrator should access the system via a unique unprivileged account, and then use su or sudo to execute privileged commands. Discouraging administrators from accessing the root account directly ensures an audit trail in organizations with multiple administrators. Locking down the channels through which root can connect directly also reduces opportunities for password-guessing against the root account. The login program uses the file /etc/securetty to determine which interfaces should allow root logins. The virtual devices /dev/console and /dev/tty* represent the system consoles (accessible via the Ctrl-Alt-F1 through Ctrl-Alt-F6 keyboard sequences on a default installation). The default securetty file also contains /dev/vc/*. These are likely to be deprecated in most environments, but may be retained for compatibility. Root should also be prohibited from connecting via network protocols. Other sections of this document include guidance describing how to prevent root from logging in via SSH.

Verify Proper Storage and Existence of Password Hashes   [ref]group

By default, password hashes for local accounts are stored in the second field (colon-separated) in /etc/shadow. This file should be readable only by processes running with root credentials, preventing users from casually accessing others' password hashes and attempting to crack them. However, it remains possible to misconfigure the system and store password hashes in world-readable files such as /etc/passwd, or to even store passwords themselves in plaintext on the system. Using system-provided tools for password change/creation should allow administrators to avoid such misconfiguration.

Set Password Expiration Parameters   [ref]group

The file /etc/login.defs controls several password-related settings. Programs such as passwd, su, and login consult /etc/login.defs to determine behavior with regard to password aging, expiration warnings, and length. See the man page login.defs(5) for more information.

Users should be forced to change their passwords, in order to decrease the utility of compromised passwords. However, the need to change passwords often should be balanced against the risk that users will reuse or write down passwords if forced to change them too often. Forcing password changes every 90-360 days, depending on the environment, is recommended. Set the appropriate value as PASS_MAX_DAYS and apply it to existing accounts with the -M flag.

The PASS_MIN_DAYS (-m) setting prevents password changes for 7 days after the first change, to discourage password cycling. If you use this setting, train users to contact an administrator for an emergency password change in case a new password becomes compromised. The PASS_WARN_AGE (-W) setting gives users 7 days of warnings at login time that their passwords are about to expire.

For example, for each existing human user USER, expiration parameters could be adjusted to a 180 day maximum password age, 7 day minimum password age, and 7 day warning period with the following command:

# chage -M 180 -m 7 -W 7 USER

Protect Accounts by Configuring PAM   [ref]group

PAM, or Pluggable Authentication Modules, is a system which implements modular authentication for Linux programs. PAM provides a flexible and configurable architecture for authentication, and it should be configured to minimize exposure to unnecessary risk. This section contains guidance on how to accomplish that.

PAM is implemented as a set of shared objects which are loaded and invoked whenever an application wishes to authenticate a user. Typically, the application must be running as root in order to take advantage of PAM, because PAM's modules often need to be able to access sensitive stores of account information, such as /etc/shadow. Traditional privileged network listeners (e.g. sshd) or SUID programs (e.g. sudo) already meet this requirement. An SUID root application, userhelper, is provided so that programs which are not SUID or privileged themselves can still take advantage of PAM.

PAM looks in the directory /etc/pam.d for application-specific configuration information. For instance, if the program login attempts to authenticate a user, then PAM's libraries follow the instructions in the file /etc/pam.d/login to determine what actions should be taken.

One very important file in /etc/pam.d is /etc/pam.d/system-auth. This file, which is included by many other PAM configuration files, defines 'default' system authentication measures. Modifying this file is a good way to make far-reaching authentication changes, for instance when implementing a centralized authentication service.

Warning:  Be careful when making changes to PAM's configuration files. The syntax for these files is complex, and modifications can have unexpected consequences. The default configurations shipped with applications should be sufficient for most users.
Warning:  Running authconfig or system-config-authentication will re-write the PAM configuration files, destroying any manually made changes and replacing them with a series of system defaults. One reference to the configuration file syntax can be found at http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/Linux-PAM-html/sag-configuration-file.html.

Set Password Quality Requirements   [ref]group

The default pam_cracklib PAM module provides strength checking for passwords. It performs a number of checks, such as making sure passwords are not similar to dictionary words, are of at least a certain length, are not the previous password reversed, and are not simply a change of case from the previous password. It can also require passwords to be in certain character classes.

The man page pam_cracklib(8) provides information on the capabilities and configuration of each.

Set Password Quality Requirements, if using pam_cracklib   [ref]group

The pam_cracklib PAM module can be configured to meet requirements for a variety of policies.

For example, to configure pam_cracklib to require at least one uppercase character, lowercase character, digit, and other (special) character, locate the following line in /etc/pam.d/system-auth:

password requisite pam_cracklib.so try_first_pass retry=3
and then alter it to read:
password required pam_cracklib.so try_first_pass retry=3 maxrepeat=3 minlen=14 dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 ocredit=-1 lcredit=-1 difok=4
If no such line exists, add one as the first line of the password section in /etc/pam.d/system-auth. The arguments can be modified to ensure compliance with your organization's security policy. Discussion of each parameter follows.

Warning:  Note that the password quality requirements are not enforced for the root account for some reason.

Set Authentication Failure Actions   [ref]group

The system should be configured to handle authentication failures so that password cracking attempts are mitigated.

Warning:  Locking out user accounts presents the risk of a denial-of-service attack. The lockout policy must weigh whether the risk of such a denial-of-service attack outweighs the benefits of thwarting password guessing attacks.

Set Password Hashing Algorithm   [ref]group

The system's default algorithm for storing password hashes in /etc/shadow is SHA-512. This can be configured in several locations.

Secure Session Configuration Files for Login Accounts   [ref]group

When a user logs into a Unix account, the system configures the user's session by reading a number of files. Many of these files are located in the user's home directory, and may have weak permissions as a result of user error or misconfiguration. If an attacker can modify or even read certain types of account configuration information, they can often gain full access to the affected user's account. Therefore, it is important to test and correct configuration file permissions for interactive accounts, particularly those of privileged users such as root or system administrators.

Ensure that No Dangerous Directories Exist in Root's Path   [ref]group

The active path of the root account can be obtained by starting a new root shell and running:

# echo $PATH
This will produce a colon-separated list of directories in the path.

Certain path elements could be considered dangerous, as they could lead to root executing unknown or untrusted programs, which could contain malicious code. Since root may sometimes work inside untrusted directories, the . character, which represents the current directory, should never be in the root path, nor should any directory which can be written to by an unprivileged or semi-privileged (system) user.

It is a good practice for administrators to always execute privileged commands by typing the full path to the command.

Ensure that Users Have Sensible Umask Values   [ref]group

The umask setting controls the default permissions for the creation of new files. With a default umask setting of 077, files and directories created by users will not be readable by any other user on the system. Users who wish to make specific files group- or world-readable can accomplish this by using the chmod command. Additionally, users can make all their files readable to their group by default by setting a umask of 027 in their shell configuration files. If default per-user groups exist (that is, if every user has a default group whose name is the same as that user's username and whose only member is the user), then it may even be safe for users to select a umask of 007, making it very easy to intentionally share files with groups of which the user is a member.

Protect Physical Console Access   [ref]group

It is impossible to fully protect a system from an attacker with physical access, so securing the space in which the system is located should be considered a necessary step. However, there are some steps which, if taken, make it more difficult for an attacker to quickly or undetectably modify a system from its console.

Set Boot Loader Password   [ref]group

During the boot process, the boot loader is responsible for starting the execution of the kernel and passing options to it. The boot loader allows for the selection of different kernels - possibly on different partitions or media. The default Red Hat Enterprise Linux boot loader for x86 systems is called GRUB. Options it can pass to the kernel include single-user mode, which provides root access without any authentication, and the ability to disable SELinux. To prevent local users from modifying the boot parameters and endangering security, protect the boot loader configuration with a password and ensure its configuration file's permissions are set properly.

Configure Screen Locking   [ref]group

When a user must temporarily leave an account logged-in, screen locking should be employed to prevent passersby from abusing the account. User education and training is particularly important for screen locking to be effective, and policies can be implemented to reinforce this.

Automatic screen locking is only meant as a safeguard for those cases where a user forgot to lock the screen.

Configure GUI Screen Locking   [ref]group

In the default GNOME desktop, the screen can be locked by choosing Lock Screen from the System menu.

The gconftool-2 program can be used to enforce mandatory screen locking settings for the default GNOME environment. The following sections detail commands to enforce idle activation of the screen saver, screen locking, a blank-screen screensaver, and an idle activation time.

Because users should be trained to lock the screen when they step away from the computer, the automatic locking feature is only meant as a backup. The Lock Screen icon from the System menu can also be dragged to the taskbar in order to facilitate even more convenient screen-locking.

The root account cannot be screen-locked, but this should have no practical effect as the root account should never be used to log into an X Windows environment, and should only be used to for direct login via console in emergency circumstances.

For more information about configuring GNOME screensaver, see http://live.gnome.org/GnomeScreensaver. For more information about enforcing preferences in the GNOME environment using the GConf configuration system, see http://projects.gnome.org/gconf and the man page gconftool-2(1).

Configure Console Screen Locking   [ref]group

A console screen locking mechanism is provided in the screen package, which is not installed by default.

Warning Banners for System Accesses   [ref]group

Each system should expose as little information about itself as possible.

System banners, which are typically displayed just before a login prompt, give out information about the service or the host's operating system. This might include the distribution name and the system kernel version, and the particular version of a network service. This information can assist intruders in gaining access to the system as it can reveal whether the system is running vulnerable software. Most network services can be configured to limit what information is displayed.

Many organizations implement security policies that require a system banner provide notice of the system's ownership, provide warning to unauthorized users, and remind authorized users of their consent to monitoring.

Network Configuration and Firewalls   [ref]group

Most machines must be connected to a network of some sort, and this brings with it the substantial risk of network attack. This section discusses the security impact of decisions about networking which must be made when configuring a system.

This section also discusses firewalls, network access controls, and other network security frameworks, which allow system-level rules to be written that can limit an attackers' ability to connect to your system. These rules can specify that network traffic should be allowed or denied from certain IP addresses, hosts, and networks. The rules can also specify which of the system's network services are available to particular hosts or networks.

Disable Unused Interfaces   [ref]group

Network interfaces expand the attack surface of the system. Unused interfaces are not monitored or controlled, and should be disabled.

If the system does not require network communications but still needs to use the loopback interface, remove all files of the form ifcfg-interface except for ifcfg-lo from /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts:

# rm /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-interface
If the system is a standalone machine with no need for network access or even communication over the loopback device, then disable this service. The network service can be disabled with the following command:
$ sudo chkconfig network off

Restrict Access to Network Configuration Changes   [ref]group

The network configuration should only be allowed to be modified by authorized users.

Kernel Parameters Which Affect Networking   [ref]group

The sysctl utility is used to set parameters which affect the operation of the Linux kernel. Kernel parameters which affect networking and have security implications are described here.

Network Parameters for Hosts Only   [ref]group

If the system is not going to be used as a router, then setting certain kernel parameters ensure that the host will not perform routing of network traffic.

Network Related Kernel Runtime Parameters for Hosts and Routers   [ref]group

Certain kernel parameters should be set for systems which are acting as either hosts or routers to improve the system's ability defend against certain types of IPv4 protocol attacks.

Wireless Networking   [ref]group

Wireless networking, such as 802.11 (WiFi) and Bluetooth, can present a security risk to sensitive or classified systems and networks. Wireless networking hardware is much more likely to be included in laptop or portable systems than desktops or servers.

Removal of hardware provides the greatest assurance that the wireless capability remains disabled. Acquisition policies often include provisions to prevent the purchase of equipment that will be used in sensitive spaces and includes wireless capabilities. If it is impractical to remove the wireless hardware, and policy permits the device to enter sensitive spaces as long as wireless is disabled, efforts should instead focus on disabling wireless capability via software.

Disable Wireless Through Software Configuration   [ref]group

If it is impossible to remove the wireless hardware from the device in question, disable as much of it as possible through software. The following methods can disable software support for wireless networking, but note that these methods do not prevent malicious software or careless users from re-activating the devices.

IPv6   [ref]group

The system includes support for Internet Protocol version 6. A major and often-mentioned improvement over IPv4 is its enormous increase in the number of available addresses. Another important feature is its support for automatic configuration of many network settings.

Disable Support for IPv6 Unless Needed   [ref]group

Despite configuration that suggests support for IPv6 has been disabled, link-local IPv6 address auto-configuration occurs even when only an IPv4 address is assigned. The only way to effectively prevent execution of the IPv6 networking stack is to instruct the system not to activate the IPv6 kernel module.

Configure IPv6 Settings if Necessary   [ref]group

A major feature of IPv6 is the extent to which systems implementing it can automatically configure their networking devices using information from the network. From a security perspective, manually configuring important configuration information is preferable to accepting it from the network in an unauthenticated fashion.

Disable Automatic Configuration   [ref]group

Disable the system's acceptance of router advertisements and redirects by adding or correcting the following line in /etc/sysconfig/network (note that this does not disable sending router solicitations):

IPV6_AUTOCONF=no

iptables and ip6tables   [ref]group

A host-based firewall called Netfilter is included as part of the Linux kernel distributed with the system. It is activated by default. This firewall is controlled by the program iptables, and the entire capability is frequently referred to by this name. An analogous program called ip6tables handles filtering for IPv6.

Unlike TCP Wrappers, which depends on the network server program to support and respect the rules written, Netfilter filtering occurs at the kernel level, before a program can even process the data from the network packet. As such, any program on the system is affected by the rules written.

This section provides basic information about strengthening the iptables and ip6tables configurations included with the system. For more complete information that may allow the construction of a sophisticated ruleset tailored to your environment, please consult the references at the end of this section.

Inspect and Activate Default Rules   [ref]group

View the currently-enforced iptables rules by running the command:

# iptables -nL --line-numbers
The command is analogous for the ip6tables program.

If the firewall does not appear to be active (i.e., no rules appear), activate it and ensure that it starts at boot by issuing the following commands (and analogously for ip6tables):
# service iptables restart
The default iptables rules are:
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source       destination
1    ACCEPT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0    0.0.0.0/0    state RELATED,ESTABLISHED 
2    ACCEPT     icmp --  0.0.0.0/0    0.0.0.0/0
3    ACCEPT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0    0.0.0.0/0
4    ACCEPT     tcp  --  0.0.0.0/0    0.0.0.0/0    state NEW tcp dpt:22 
5    REJECT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0    0.0.0.0/0    reject-with icmp-host-prohibited 

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source       destination
1    REJECT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0    0.0.0.0/0    reject-with icmp-host-prohibited 

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source       destination
The ip6tables default rules are essentially the same.

Strengthen the Default Ruleset   [ref]group

The default rules can be strengthened. The system scripts that activate the firewall rules expect them to be defined in the configuration files iptables and ip6tables in the directory /etc/sysconfig. Many of the lines in these files are similar to the command line arguments that would be provided to the programs /sbin/iptables or /sbin/ip6tables - but some are quite different.

The following recommendations describe how to strengthen the default ruleset configuration file. An alternative to editing this configuration file is to create a shell script that makes calls to the iptables program to load in rules, and then invokes service iptables save to write those loaded rules to /etc/sysconfig/iptables.

The following alterations can be made directly to /etc/sysconfig/iptables and /etc/sysconfig/ip6tables. Instructions apply to both unless otherwise noted. Language and address conventions for regular iptables are used throughout this section; configuration for ip6tables will be either analogous or explicitly covered.

Warning:  The program system-config-securitylevel allows additional services to penetrate the default firewall rules and automatically adjusts /etc/sysconfig/iptables. This program is only useful if the default ruleset meets your security requirements. Otherwise, this program should not be used to make changes to the firewall configuration because it re-writes the saved configuration file.

Transport Layer Security Support   [ref]group

Support for Transport Layer Security (TLS), and its predecessor, the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), is included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the OpenSSL software (RPM package openssl). TLS provides encrypted and authenticated network communications, and many network services include support for it. TLS or SSL can be leveraged to avoid any plaintext transmission of sensitive data.
For information on how to use OpenSSL, see http://www.openssl.org/docs/HOWTO/. Information on FIPS validation of OpenSSL is available at http://www.openssl.org/docs/fips/fipsvalidation.html and http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140val-all.htm.

IP Tunnelling Support   [ref]group

Support for creating IP encapsulated tunnels between a system and remote endpoints, to also include tunnelling ipv6 over ipv4, is available in Red Hat.

Uncommon Network Protocols   [ref]group

The system includes support for several network protocols which are not commonly used. Although security vulnerabilities in kernel networking code are not frequently discovered, the consequences can be dramatic. Ensuring uncommon network protocols are disabled reduces the system's risk to attacks targeted at its implementation of those protocols.

Warning:  Although these protocols are not commonly used, avoid disruption in your network environment by ensuring they are not needed prior to disabling them.

Configure Syslog   [ref]group

The syslog service has been the default Unix logging mechanism for many years. It has a number of downsides, including inconsistent log format, lack of authentication for received messages, and lack of authentication, encryption, or reliable transport for messages sent over a network. However, due to its long history, syslog is a de facto standard which is supported by almost all Unix applications.

Syslog Logs Sent To Remote Host   [ref]group

If system logs are to be useful in detecting malicious activities, it is necessary to send logs to a remote server. An intruder who has compromised the root account on a machine may delete the log entries which indicate that the system was attacked before they are seen by an administrator.

However, it is recommended that logs be stored on the local host in addition to being sent to the loghost, especially if syslog has been configured to use the UDP protocol to send messages over a network. UDP does not guarantee reliable delivery, and moderately busy sites will lose log messages occasionally, especially in periods of high traffic which may be the result of an attack. In addition, remote syslog messages are not authenticated in any way by default, so it is easy for an attacker to introduce spurious messages to the central log server. Also, some problems cause loss of network connectivity, which will prevent the sending of messages to the central server. For all of these reasons, it is better to store log messages both centrally and on each host, so that they can be correlated if necessary.

Configure syslogd to Accept Remote Messages If Acting as a Log Server   [ref]group

By default, syslog does not listen over the network for log messages. If needed, modules can be enabled to allow the syslog daemon to receive messages from other systems and for the system thus to act as a log server. If the machine is not a log server, then lines concerning these modules should remain commented out.

Ensure All Logs are Rotated by logrotate   [ref]group

Edit the file /etc/logrotate.d/syslog. Find the first line, which should look like this (wrapped for clarity):

/var/log/messages /var/log/secure /var/log/maillog /var/log/spooler \
  /var/log/boot.log /var/log/cron {
Edit this line so that it contains a one-space-separated listing of each log file referenced in /etc/syslog.conf.

All logs in use on a system must be rotated regularly, or the log files will consume disk space over time, eventually interfering with system operation. The file /etc/logrotate.d/syslog is the configuration file used by the logrotate program to maintain all log files written by syslog. By default, it rotates logs weekly and stores four archival copies of each log. These settings can be modified by editing /etc/logrotate.conf, but the defaults are sufficient for purposes of this guide.

Note that logrotate is run nightly by the cron job /etc/cron.daily/logrotate. If particularly active logs need to be rotated more often than once a day, some other mechanism must be used.

System Accounting with auditd   [ref]group

The audit service provides substantial capabilities for recording system activities. By default, the service audits about SELinux AVC denials and certain types of security-relevant events such as system logins, account modifications, and authentication events performed by programs such as sudo. Under its default configuration, auditd has modest disk space requirements, and should not noticeably impact system performance.

Government networks often have substantial auditing requirements and auditd can be configured to meet these requirements. Examining some example audit records demonstrates how the Linux audit system satisfies common requirements. The following example from Fedora Documentation available at http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/13/html/Security-Enhanced_Linux/sect-Security-Enhanced_Linux-Fixing_Problems-Raw_Audit_Messages.html shows the substantial amount of information captured in a two typical "raw" audit messages, followed by a breakdown of the most important fields. In this example the message is SELinux-related and reports an AVC denial (and the associated system call) that occurred when the Apache HTTP Server attempted to access the /var/www/html/file1 file (labeled with the samba_share_t type):

type=AVC msg=audit(1226874073.147:96): avc:  denied  { getattr } for pid=2465 comm="httpd"
path="/var/www/html/file1" dev=dm-0 ino=284133 scontext=unconfined_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0 
tcontext=unconfined_u:object_r:samba_share_t:s0 tclass=file

type=SYSCALL msg=audit(1226874073.147:96): arch=40000003 syscall=196 success=no exit=-13 
a0=b98df198 a1=bfec85dc a2=54dff4 a3=2008171 items=0 ppid=2463 pid=2465 auid=502 uid=48
gid=48 euid=48 suid=48 fsuid=48 egid=48 sgid=48 fsgid=48 tty=(none) ses=6 comm="httpd"
exe="/usr/sbin/httpd" subj=unconfined_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0 key=(null)
  • msg=audit(1226874073.147:96)
    • The number in parentheses is the unformatted time stamp (Epoch time) for the event, which can be converted to standard time by using the date command.
  • { getattr }
    • The item in braces indicates the permission that was denied. getattr indicates the source process was trying to read the target file's status information. This occurs before reading files. This action is denied due to the file being accessed having the wrong label. Commonly seen permissions include getattr, read, and write.
  • comm="httpd"
    • The executable that launched the process. The full path of the executable is found in the exe= section of the system call (SYSCALL) message, which in this case, is exe="/usr/sbin/httpd".
  • path="/var/www/html/file1"
    • The path to the object (target) the process attempted to access.
  • scontext="unconfined_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0"
    • The SELinux context of the process that attempted the denied action. In this case, it is the SELinux context of the Apache HTTP Server, which is running in the httpd_t domain.
  • tcontext="unconfined_u:object_r:samba_share_t:s0"
    • The SELinux context of the object (target) the process attempted to access. In this case, it is the SELinux context of file1. Note: the samba_share_t type is not accessible to processes running in the httpd_t domain.
  • From the system call (SYSCALL) message, two items are of interest:
    • success=no: indicates whether the denial (AVC) was enforced or not. success=no indicates the system call was not successful (SELinux denied access). success=yes indicates the system call was successful - this can be seen for permissive domains or unconfined domains, such as initrc_t and kernel_t.
    • exe="/usr/sbin/httpd": the full path to the executable that launched the process, which in this case, is exe="/usr/sbin/httpd".

Configure auditd Data Retention   [ref]group

The audit system writes data to /var/log/audit/audit.log. By default, auditd rotates 5 logs by size (6MB), retaining a maximum of 30MB of data in total, and refuses to write entries when the disk is too full. This minimizes the risk of audit data filling its partition and impacting other services. This also minimizes the risk of the audit daemon temporarily disabling the system if it cannot write audit log (which it can be configured to do). For a busy system or a system which is thoroughly auditing system activity, the default settings for data retention may be insufficient. The log file size needed will depend heavily on what types of events are being audited. First configure auditing to log all the events of interest. Then monitor the log size manually for awhile to determine what file size will allow you to keep the required data for the correct time period.

Using a dedicated partition for /var/log/audit prevents the auditd logs from disrupting system functionality if they fill, and, more importantly, prevents other activity in /var from filling the partition and stopping the audit trail. (The audit logs are size-limited and therefore unlikely to grow without bound unless configured to do so.) Some machines may have requirements that no actions occur which cannot be audited. If this is the case, then auditd can be configured to halt the machine if it runs out of space. Note: Since older logs are rotated, configuring auditd this way does not prevent older logs from being rotated away before they can be viewed. If your system is configured to halt when logging cannot be performed, make sure this can never happen under normal circumstances! Ensure that /var/log/audit is on its own partition, and that this partition is larger than the maximum amount of data auditd will retain normally.

References:  AU-11, 138

Configure auditd Rules for Comprehensive Auditing   [ref]group

The auditd program can perform comprehensive monitoring of system activity. This section describes recommended configuration settings for comprehensive auditing, but a full description of the auditing system's capabilities is beyond the scope of this guide. The mailing list linux-audit@redhat.com exists to facilitate community discussion of the auditing system.

The audit subsystem supports extensive collection of events, including:

  • Tracing of arbitrary system calls (identified by name or number) on entry or exit.
  • Filtering by PID, UID, call success, system call argument (with some limitations), etc.
  • Monitoring of specific files for modifications to the file's contents or metadata.

Auditing rules at startup are controlled by the file /etc/audit/audit.rules. Add rules to it to meet the auditing requirements for your organization. Each line in /etc/audit/audit.rules represents a series of arguments that can be passed to auditctl and can be individually tested during runtime. See documentation in /usr/share/doc/audit-VERSION and in the related man pages for more details.

If copying any example audit rulesets from /usr/share/doc/audit-VERSION, be sure to comment out the lines containing arch= which are not appropriate for your system's architecture. Then review and understand the following rules, ensuring rules are activated as needed for the appropriate architecture.

After reviewing all the rules, reading the following sections, and editing as needed, the new rules can be activated as follows:
# service auditd restart

Records Events that Modify Date and Time Information   [ref]group

Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time. All changes to the system time should be audited.

Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls   [ref]group

At a minimum the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. Note that the "-F arch=b32" lines should be present even on a 64 bit system. These commands identify system calls for auditing. Even if the system is 64 bit it can still execute 32 bit system calls. Additionally, these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. An example of this is that the "-S" calls could be split up and placed on separate lines, however, this is less efficient. Add the following to /etc/audit/audit.rules:

-a exit,always -F arch=b32 -S chmod -S fchmod -S fchmodat -F auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k perm_mod
    -a exit,always -F arch=b32 -S chown -S fchown -S fchownat -S lchown -F auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k perm_mod
    -a exit,always -F arch=b32 -S setxattr -S lsetxattr -S fsetxattr -S removexattr -S lremovexattr -S fremovexattr -F auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k perm_mod
If your system is 64 bit then these lines should be duplicated and the arch=b32 replaced with arch=b64 as follows:
-a exit,always -F arch=b64 -S chmod -S fchmod -S fchmodat -F auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k perm_mod
    -a exit,always -F arch=b64 -S chown -S fchown -S fchownat -S lchown -F auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k perm_mod
    -a exit,always -F arch=b64 -S setxattr -S lsetxattr -S fsetxattr -S removexattr -S lremovexattr -S fremovexattr -F auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k perm_mod

Services   [ref]group

The best protection against vulnerable software is running less software. This section describes how to review the software which Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 installs on a system and disable software which is not needed. It then enumerates the software packages installed on a default Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 system and provides guidance about which ones can be safely disabled.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 provides a convenient minimal install option that essentially installs the bare necessities for a functional system. When building Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 systems, it is highly recommended to select the minimal packages and then build up the system from there.

Obsolete Services   [ref]group

This section discusses a number of network-visible services which have historically caused problems for system security, and for which disabling or severely limiting the service has been the best available guidance for some time. As a result of this, many of these services are not installed as part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 by default.

Organizations which are running these services should switch to more secure equivalents as soon as possible. If it remains absolutely necessary to run one of these services for legacy reasons, care should be taken to restrict the service as much as possible, for instance by configuring host firewall software such as iptables to restrict access to the vulnerable service to only those remote hosts which have a known need to use it.

Xinetd   [ref]group

The xinetd service acts as a dedicated listener for some network services (mostly, obsolete ones) and can be used to provide access controls and perform some logging. It has been largely obsoleted by other features, and it is not installed by default. The older Inetd service is not even available as part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Telnet   [ref]group

The telnet protocol does not provide confidentiality or integrity for information transmitted on the network. This includes authentication information such as passwords. Organizations which use telnet should be actively working to migrate to a more secure protocol.

Rlogin, Rsh, and Rexec   [ref]group

The Berkeley r-commands are legacy services which allow cleartext remote access and have an insecure trust model.

NIS   [ref]group

The Network Information Service (NIS), also known as 'Yellow Pages' (YP), and its successor NIS+ have been made obsolete by Kerberos, LDAP, and other modern centralized authentication services. NIS should not be used because it suffers from security problems inherent in its design, such as inadequate protection of important authentication information.

TFTP Server   [ref]group

TFTP is a lightweight version of the FTP protocol which has traditionally been used to configure networking equipment. However, TFTP provides little security, and modern versions of networking operating systems frequently support configuration via SSH or other more secure protocols. A TFTP server should be run only if no more secure method of supporting existing equipment can be found.

Base Services   [ref]group

This section addresses the base services that are installed on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 default installation which are not covered in other sections. Some of these services listen on the network and should be treated with particular discretion. Other services are local system utilities that may or may not be extraneous. In general, system services should be disabled if not required.

Cron and At Daemons   [ref]group

The cron and at services are used to allow commands to be executed at a later time. The cron service is required by almost all systems to perform necessary maintenance tasks, while at may or may not be required on a given system. Both daemons should be configured defensively.

Restrict cron to Authorized Users if Necessary   [ref]group

The /etc/cron.allow file contain lists of users who are allowed to use cron to delay execution of processes. If this file exists and if the corresponding file /etc/cron.deny does not exist, then only users listed in the relevant allow files can run the crontab commands to submit jobs to be run at scheduled intervals. On many systems, only the system administrator needs the ability to schedule jobs. Note that even if a given user is not listed in cron.allow, cron jobs can still be run as that user.

To restrict cron to only authorized users:

  • Remove the cron.deny file:
    # rm /etc/cron.deny
  • Edit /etc/cron.allow, adding one line for each user allowed to use the crontab command to create cron jobs.

Restrict at to Authorized Users if Necessary   [ref]group

The /etc/at.allow file contain lists of users who are allowed to use at to delay execution of processes. If this file exists and if the corresponding file /etc/at.deny does not exist, then only users listed in the relevant allow files can run the at commands to submit jobs to be run at scheduled intervals. On many systems, only the system administrator needs the ability to schedule jobs. Note that even if a given user is not listed in cron.allow, cron jobs can still be run as that user. The cron.allow file controls only administrative access to the crontab command for scheduling and modifying cron jobs.

To restrict at to only authorized users:

  • Remove the at.deny file:
    # rm /etc/at.deny
  • Edit /etc/at.allow, adding one line for each user allowed to use the at command to create at jobs.

SSH Server   [ref]group

The SSH protocol is recommended for remote login and remote file transfer. SSH provides confidentiality and integrity for data exchanged between two systems, as well as server authentication, through the use of public key cryptography. The implementation included with the system is called OpenSSH, and more detailed documentation is available from its website, http://www.openssh.org. Its server program is called sshd and provided by the RPM package openssh-server.

Configure OpenSSH Server if Necessary   [ref]group

If the system needs to act as an SSH server, then certain changes should be made to the OpenSSH daemon configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config. The following recommendations can be applied to this file. See the sshd_config(5) man page for more detailed information.

Strengthen Firewall Configuration if Possible   [ref]group

If the SSH server is expected to only receive connections from the local network, then strengthen the default firewall rule for the SSH service to only accept connections from the appropriate network segment(s).

Determine an appropriate network block, netwk, and network mask, mask, representing the machines on your network which will be allowed to access this SSH server.

Edit the files etc/sysconfig/iptables and /etc/sysconfig/ip6tables (if IPv6 is in use). In each file, locate the line:

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
and replace it with:
-A INPUT -s netwk/mask -m state --state NEW -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT

Configure OpenSSH Client if Necessary   [ref]group

If the system needs to utilize the SSH client, then certain changes should be made to the OpenSSH client configuration file /etc/ssh/ssh_config. The following recommendations can be applied to this file. See the ssh_config(5) man page for more detailed information.

X Window System   [ref]group

The X Window System implementation included with the system is called X.org.

Disable X Windows   [ref]group

Unless there is a mission-critical reason for the system to run a graphical user interface, ensure X is not set to start automatically at boot and remove the X Windows software packages. There is usually no reason to run X Windows on a dedicated server machine, as it increases the system's attack surface and consumes system resources. Administrators of server systems should instead login via SSH or on the text console.

DHCP   [ref]group

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows systems to request and obtain an IP address and other configuration parameters from a server.

This guide recommends configuring networking on clients by manually editing the appropriate files under /etc/sysconfig. Use of DHCP can make client systems vulnerable to compromise by rogue DHCP servers, and should be avoided unless necessary. If using DHCP is necessary, however, there are best practices that should be followed to minimize security risk.

Disable DHCP Client   [ref]group

DHCP is the default network configuration method provided by the system installer, and common on many networks. Nevertheless, manual management of IP addresses for systems implies a greater degree of management and accountability for network activity.

Configure DHCP Client if Necessary   [ref]group

If DHCP must be used, then certain configuration changes can minimize the amount of information it receives and applies from the network, and thus the amount of incorrect information a rogue DHCP server could successfully distribute. For more information on configuring dhclient, see the dhclient(8) and dhclient.conf(5) man pages.

Network Time Protocol   [ref]group

The Network Time Protocol is used to manage the system clock over a network. Computer clocks are not very accurate, so time will drift unpredictably on unmanaged systems. Central time protocols can be used both to ensure that time is consistent among a network of machines, and that their time is consistent with the outside world.

If every system on a network reliably reports the same time, then it is much easier to correlate log messages in case of an attack. In addition, a number of cryptographic protocols (such as Kerberos) use timestamps to prevent certain types of attacks. If your network does not have synchronized time, these protocols may be unreliable or even unusable.

Depending on the specifics of the network, global time accuracy may be just as important as local synchronization, or not very important at all. If your network is connected to the Internet, using a public timeserver (or one provided by your enterprise) provides globally accurate timestamps which may be essential in investigating or responding to an attack which originated outside of your network.

A typical network setup involves a small number of internal systems operating as NTP servers, and the remainder obtaining time information from those internal servers.

More information on how to configure the NTP server software, including configuration of cryptographic authentication for time data, is available at http://www.ntp.org.

Mail Server Software   [ref]group

Mail servers are used to send and receive email over the network. Mail is a very common service, and Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs) are obvious targets of network attack. Ensure that machines are not running MTAs unnecessarily, and configure needed MTAs as defensively as possible.

Very few systems at any site should be configured to directly receive email over the network. Users should instead use mail client programs to retrieve email from a central server that supports protocols such as IMAP or POP3. However, it is normal for most systems to be independently capable of sending email, for instance so that cron jobs can report output to an administrator. Most MTAs, including Postfix, support a submission-only mode in which mail can be sent from the local system to a central site MTA (or directly delivered to a local account), but the system still cannot receive mail directly over a network.

The alternatives program in Red Hat Enterprise Linux permits selection of other mail server software (such as Sendmail), but Postfix is the default and is preferred. Postfix was coded with security in mind and can also be more effectively contained by SELinux as its modular design has resulted in separate processes performing specific actions. More information is available on its website, http://www.postfix.org.

Mail Server Logging   [ref]group

It is important to ensure adequate logging of mail server connections so as to support detecting any unauthorized activity.

Mail Server Features   [ref]group

Mail servers are used to send and receive email over the network. Mail is a very common service, and Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs) are obvious targets of network attack. Ensure that machines are not running MTAs unnecessarily, and configure needed MTAs as defensively as possible.

Very few systems at any site should be configured to directly receive email over the network. Users should instead use mail client programs to retrieve email from a central server that supports protocols such as IMAP or POP3. However, it is normal for most systems to be independently capable of sending email, for instance so that cron jobs can report output to an administrator. Most MTAs, including Postfix, support a submission-only mode in which mail can be sent from the local system to a central site MTA (or directly delivered to a local account), but the system still cannot receive mail directly over a network.

The alternatives program in Red Hat Enterprise Linux permits selection of other mail server software (such as Sendmail), but Postfix is the default and is preferred. Postfix was coded with security in mind and can also be more effectively contained by SELinux as its modular design has resulted in separate processes performing specific actions. More information is available on its website, http://www.postfix.org.

LDAP   [ref]group

LDAP is a popular directory service, that is, a standardized way of looking up information from a central database. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 includes software that enables a system to act as both an LDAP client and server.

Configure OpenLDAP Clients   [ref]group

This section provides information on which security settings are important to configure in OpenLDAP clients by manually editing the appropriate configuration files. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 provides an automated configuration tool called authconfig and a graphical wrapper for authconfig called system-config-authentication. However, these tools do not provide as much control over configuration as manual editing of configuration files. The authconfig tools do not allow you to specify locations of SSL certificate files, which is useful when trying to use SSL cleanly across several protocols. Installation and configuration of OpenLDAP on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is available at https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/Deployment_Guide/ch-ldap.html.

Warning:  Before configuring any system to be an LDAP client, ensure that a working LDAP server is present on the network.

NFS and RPC   [ref]group

The Network File System is a popular distributed filesystem for the Unix environment, and is very widely deployed. This section discusses the circumstances under which it is possible to disable NFS and its dependencies, and then details steps which should be taken to secure NFS's configuration. This section is relevant to machines operating as NFS clients, as well as to those operating as NFS servers.

Disable All NFS Services if Possible   [ref]group

If there is not a reason for the system to operate as either an NFS client or an NFS server, follow all instructions in this section to disable subsystems required by NFS.

Warning:  The steps in this section will prevent a machine from operating as either an NFS client or an NFS server. Only perform these steps on machines which do not need NFS at all.

Remove Services Used Only by NFS   [ref]group

If NFS is not needed, remove the NFS client daemons portmap and rpcbind.

All of these daemons run with elevated privileges, and many listen for network connections. If they are not needed, they should be disabled to improve system security posture.

Disable Services Used Only by NFS   [ref]group

If NFS is not needed, disable the NFS client daemons nfslock, rpcgssd, and rpcidmapd.

All of these daemons run with elevated privileges, and many listen for network connections. If they are not needed, they should be disabled to improve system security posture.

Configure All Machines which Use NFS   [ref]group

The steps in this section are appropriate for all machines which run NFS, whether they operate as clients or as servers.

Configure NFS Clients   [ref]group

The steps in this section are appropriate for machines which operate as NFS clients.

Configure NFS Servers   [ref]group

The steps in this section are appropriate for machines which operate as NFS servers.

FTP Server   [ref]group

FTP is a common method for allowing remote access to files. Like telnet, the FTP protocol is unencrypted, which means that passwords and other data transmitted during the session can be captured and that the session is vulnerable to hijacking. Therefore, running the FTP server software is not recommended.

However, there are some FTP server configurations which may be appropriate for some environments, particularly those which allow only read-only anonymous access as a means of downloading data available to the public.

Samba(SMB) Microsoft Windows File Sharing Server   [ref]group

When properly configured, the Samba service allows Linux machines to provide file and print sharing to Microsoft Windows machines. There are two software packages that provide Samba support. The first, samba-client, provides a series of command line tools that enable a client machine to access Samba shares. The second, simply labeled samba, provides the Samba service. It is this second package that allows a Linux machine to act as an Active Directory server, a domain controller, or as a domain member. Only the samba-client package is installed by default.

Remove Samba if Possible   [ref]group

The Samba server must not be installed unless it provides an operational need.

Configure Samba if Necessary   [ref]group

All settings for the Samba daemon can be found in /etc/samba/smb.conf. Settings are divided between a [global] configuration section and a series of user created share definition sections meant to describe file or print shares on the system. By default, Samba will operate in user mode and allow client machines to access local home directories and printers. It is recommended that these settings be changed or that additional limitations be set in place.

SNMP Server   [ref]group

The Simple Network Management Protocol allows administrators to monitor the state of network devices, including computers. Older versions of SNMP were well-known for weak security, such as plaintext transmission of the community string (used for authentication) and usage of easily-guessable choices for the community string.

Configure SNMP Server   [ref]group

If it is necessary to run the snmpd agent on the system, some best practices should be followed to minimize the security risk from the installation. The multiple security models implemented by SNMP cannot be fully covered here so only the following general configuration advice can be offered:

  • use only SNMP version 3 security models and enable the use of authentication and encryption
  • write access to the MIB (Management Information Base) should be allowed only if necessary
  • all access to the MIB should be restricted following a principle of least privilege
  • network access should be limited to the maximum extent possible including restricting to expected network addresses both in the configuration files and in the system firewall rules
  • ensure SNMP agents send traps only to, and accept SNMP queries only from, authorized management stations
  • ensure that permissions on the snmpd.conf configuration file (by default, in /etc/snmp) are 640 or more restrictive
  • ensure that any MIB files' permissions are also 640 or more restrictive

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