Search filters the loaded rule list locally. Separate terms must all match (use quotes for an exact phrase).
Objective ID
Severity
Discussion
low
Limiting simultaneous user logins can insulate the system from Denial of Service problems caused by excessive logins. Automated login processes operating improperly or maliciously may result in an exceptional number of simultaneous login sessions.
If the defined value of 10 logins does not meet operational requirements, the site may define the permitted number of simultaneous login sessions based on operational requirements.
This limit is for the number of simultaneous login sessions for EACH user account. This is NOT a limit on the total number of simultaneous login sessions on the system.
low
Configuring a supplemental group for users permitted to switch to the root user prevents unauthorized users from accessing the root account, even with knowledge of the root credentials.
low
To prevent unauthorized access or manipulation of system audit logs, the tools for manipulating those logs must be protected.
low
To prevent unauthorized access or manipulation of system audit logs, the tools for manipulating those logs must be protected.
low
To prevent unauthorized access or manipulation of system audit logs, the tools for manipulating those logs must be protected.
medium
The at daemon control files restrict access to scheduled job manipulation and must be protected. Unauthorized modification of the at.deny file could result in Denial of Service to authorized at users or provide unauthorized users with the ability to run at jobs.
medium
If the group-owner of the at.allow file is not set to root, sys, bin or other, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or edit the list of users permitted to run at jobs. Unauthorized modification could result in Denial of Service to authorized at users or provide unauthorized users with the ability to run at jobs.
medium
If the group-owner of the at.deny file is not set to root, bin, sys, other, or cron, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or edit sensitive information contained within the file. Unauthorized modification could result in Denial of Service to authorized at users or provide unauthorized users with the ability to run at jobs.
low
Kernel core dumps may contain the full contents of system memory at the time of the crash. As the system memory may contain sensitive information, it must be protected accordingly. If the kernel core dump data directory is not group-owned by a system group, the core dumps contained in the directory may be subject to unauthorized access.
low
Kernel core dumps may contain the full contents of system memory at the time of the crash. As the system memory may contain sensitive information, it must be protected accordingly. If the mode of the kernel core dump data directory is more permissive than 0700, unauthorized users may be able to view or to modify kernel core dump data files.
medium
The snmpd.conf file contains authenticators and must be protected from unauthorized access and modification. If the file is not group-owned by root or a system group, it may be subject to access and modification from unauthorized users.
medium
If the system is configured for IP forwarding and is not a designated router, it could be used to bypass network security by providing a path for communication not filtered by network devices.
medium
DHCP allows for the unauthenticated configuration of network parameters on the system by exchanging information with a DHCP server.
medium
ICMP redirect messages are used by routers to inform hosts of a more direct route existing for a particular destination. These messages contain information from the system's route table possibly revealing portions of the network topology.
medium
The use of longer passwords reduces the ability of attackers to successfully obtain valid passwords using guessing or exhaustive search techniques by increasing the password search space.
medium
An accurate and current audit trail is essential for maintaining a record of system activity. If the system fails, the SA must be notified and must take prompt action to correct the problem.
Minimally, the system must log this event and the SA will receive this notification during the daily system log review. If feasible, active alerting (such as e-mail or paging) should be employed consistent with the site’s established operations management systems and procedures.
low
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises, and damages incurred during a system compromise.
low
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
low
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
low
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
medium
To provide some mitigation to TCP Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, the TCP backlog queue sizes must be set to at least 1280 or in accordance with product-specific guidelines.
medium
The rlogind process provides a typically unencrypted, host-authenticated remote access service. SSH should be used in place of this service.
medium
Source-routed packets allow the source of the packet to suggest routers forward the packet along a different path than configured on the router, which can be used to bypass network security measures.
medium
Source-routed packets allow the source of the packet to suggest routers forward the packet along a different path than configured on the router, which can be used to bypass network security measures. This requirement applies only to the handling of source-routed traffic destined to the system itself, not to traffic forwarded by the system to another, such as when IPv4 forwarding is enabled and the system is functioning as a router.
medium
ICMP redirect messages are used by routers to inform hosts that a more direct route exists for a particular destination. These messages modify the host's route table and are unauthenticated. An illicit ICMP redirect message could result in a man-in-the-middle attack.
medium
Responding to broadcast ICMP echo requests facilitates network mapping and provides a vector for amplification attacks.
medium
The SCTP is an IETF-standardized transport layer protocol. This protocol is not yet widely used. Binding this protocol to the network stack increases the attack surface of the host. Unprivileged local processes may be able to cause the kernel to dynamically load a protocol handler by opening a socket using the protocol.
low
Changing the root home directory to something other than / and assigning it a 0700 protection makes it more difficult for intruders to manipulate the system by reading the files root places in its default directory. It also gives root the same discretionary access control for root's home directory as for the other plain user home directories.
medium
The executable search path (typically the PATH environment variable) contains a list of directories for the shell to search to find executables. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, executables in these directories may be executed instead of system commands. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The library preload list environment variable contains a list of libraries for the dynamic linker to load before loading the libraries required by the binary. If this list contains paths to libraries relative to the current working directory, unintended libraries may be preloaded. This variable is formatted as a space-separated list of libraries. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The shells file (or equivalent) lists approved default shells. It helps provide layered defense to the security approach by ensuring users cannot change their default shell to an unauthorized, unsecure shell.
medium
If the group of the cron.allow is not set to root, bin, sys or other, the possibility exists for an unauthorized user to view or edit the list of users permitted to use cron. Unauthorized modification of this file could cause Denial of Service to authorized cron users or provide unauthorized users with the ability to run cron jobs.
medium
Cron daemon control files restrict the scheduling of automated tasks and must be protected. Unauthorized modification of the cron.deny file could result in Denial of Service to authorized cron users or could provide unauthorized users with the ability to run cron jobs.
medium
If the group of the at directory is not root, bin, sys or other, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or edit files containing sensitive information within the directory.
medium
If the owner of the at.allow file is not set to root, sys, or bin, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or edit sensitive information contained within the file.
medium
If the owner of the at.deny file is not set to root, bin, or sys, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or edit sensitive information contained within the file.
low
Process core dumps contain the memory in use by the process when it crashed. Process core dump files can be of significant size and their use can result in file systems filling to capacity, which may result in Denial of Service. Process core dumps can be useful for software debugging.
medium
A common type of exploit is the stack buffer overflow. An application receives, from an attacker, more data than it is prepared for and stores this information on its stack, writing beyond the space reserved for it. This can be designed to cause execution of the data written on the stack. One mechanism to mitigate this vulnerability is for the system to not allow the execution of instructions in sections of memory identified as part of the stack.
low
The processing of ICMP timestamp requests increases the attack surface of the system.
medium
Responding to broadcast Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echoes facilitates network mapping and provides a vector for amplification attacks.
medium
The processing of ICMP timestamp requests increases the attack surface of the system. Responding to broadcast ICMP timestamp requests facilitates network mapping and provides a vector for amplification attacks.
medium
Source-routed packets allow the source of the packet to suggest routers forward the packet along a different path than configured on the router, which can be used to bypass network security measures.
medium
The at facility selectively allows users to execute jobs at deferred times. It is usually used for one-time jobs. The at.allow file selectively allows access to the at facility. If there is no at.allow file, there is no ready documentation of who is allowed to submit at jobs.
medium
ICMP redirect messages are used by routers to inform hosts that a more direct route exists for a particular destination. These messages contain information from the system's route table possibly revealing portions of the network topology.
medium
If a file executed through a mail alias file has permissions greater than 0755, it can be modified by an unauthorized user and may contain malicious code or instructions possibly compromising the system.
low
If Sendmail is not configured to log at level 9, system logs may not contain the information necessary for tracking unauthorized use of the sendmail service.
low
The use of separate file systems for different paths can protect the system from failures resulting from the / file system becoming full or failing.
low
The use of separate file systems for different paths can protect the system from failures resulting from a file system becoming full or failing.
medium
If informational and more severe SMTP service messages are not logged, malicious activity on the system may go unnoticed.
medium
Restricting SSH logins to a limited group of users, such as system administrators, prevents password guessing and other SSH attacks from reaching system accounts and other accounts not authorized for SSH access.
medium
If the SMTP service log file is not owned by root, then unauthorized personnel may modify or delete the file to hide a system compromise.
low
The use of separate file systems for different paths can protect the system from failures resulting from a file system becoming full or failing.
low
The use of separate file systems for different paths can protect the system from failures resulting from a file system becoming full or failing.
medium
File system journaling, or logging, can allow reconstruction of file system data after a system crash, thus, preserving the integrity of data that may have otherwise been lost. Journaling file systems typically do not require consistency checks upon booting after a crash, which can improve system availability. Some file systems employ other mechanisms to ensure consistency which also satisfy this requirement.
medium
If the SMTP service log file is more permissive than 0644, unauthorized users may be allowed to change the log file.
medium
The HELP command should be disabled to mask version information. The version of the SMTP service software could be used by attackers to target vulnerabilities present in specific software versions.
medium
If a public host key file is modified by an unauthorized user, the SSH service may be compromised.
medium
The .forward file allows users to automatically forward mail to another system. Use of .forward files could allow the unauthorized forwarding of mail and could potentially create mail loops which could degrade system performance.
medium
If an unauthorized user obtains the private SSH host key file, the host could be impersonated.
medium
Unnecessary services should be disabled to decrease the attack surface of the system.
low
GSSAPI authentication is used to provide additional authentication mechanisms to applications. Allowing GSSAPI authentication through SSH exposes the system’s GSSAPI to remote hosts, increasing the attack surface of the system. GSSAPI authentication must be disabled unless needed.
medium
Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
low
GSSAPI authentication is used to provide additional authentication mechanisms to applications. Allowing GSSAPI authentication through SSH exposes the system’s GSSAPI to remote hosts, increasing the attack surface of the system. GSSAPI authentication must be disabled unless needed.
medium
Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to system groups may provide unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
The Internet service daemon configuration files must be protected as malicious modification could cause Denial of Service or increase the attack surface of the system.
medium
The Internet service daemon configuration files must be protected as malicious modification could cause Denial of Service or increase the attack surface of the system.
low
Kerberos authentication for SSH is often implemented using GSSAPI. If Kerberos is enabled through SSH, the SSH daemon provides a means of access to the system's Kerberos implementation. Vulnerabilities in the system's Kerberos implementation may then be subject to exploitation. To reduce the attack surface of the system, the Kerberos authentication mechanism within SSH must be disabled for systems not using this capability.
low
The SMTP EXPN function allows an attacker to determine if an account exists on a system, providing significant assistance to a brute force attack on user accounts. EXPN may also provide additional information concerning users on the system, such as the full names of account owners.
medium
Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
The services file is critical to the proper operation of network services and must be protected from unauthorized modification. Unauthorized modification could result in the failure of network services.
medium
Failure to give ownership of system configuration files to root or a system group provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
low
The VRFY (Verify) command allows an attacker to determine if an account exists on a system, providing significant assistance to a brute force attack on user accounts. VRFY may provide additional information about users on the system, such as the full names of account owners.
medium
The ftpusers file contains a list of accounts not allowed to use FTP to transfer files. If this file does not exist, then unauthorized accounts can utilize FTP.
medium
If the ftpusers file is not group-owned by root or a system group, an unauthorized user may modify the file to allow unauthorized accounts to use FTP.
high
If an anonymous FTP account has been configured to use a functional shell, attackers could gain access to the shell if the account is compromised.
medium
Samba increases the attack surface of the system and must be restricted to communicate only with systems requiring access.
medium
Samba share authentication does not provide for individual user identification and must not be used.
high
Secure mode limits TFTP requests to a specific directory. If TFTP is not running in secure mode, it may be able to write to any file or directory and may seriously impair system integrity, confidentiality, and availability.
medium
Samba must be configured to protect authenticators. If Samba passwords are not encrypted for storage, plain-text user passwords may be read by those with access to the Samba password file.
medium
The remshd process provides a typically unencrypted, host-authenticated remote access service. SSH should be used in place of this service.
high
The remshd process provides a typically unencrypted, host-authenticated remote access service. SSH should be used in place of this service.
high
The rexecd process provides a typically unencrypted, host-authenticated remote access service. SSH should be used in place of this service.
high
The telnet daemon provides a typically unencrypted remote access service which does not provide for the confidentiality and integrity of user passwords or the remote session. If a privileged user were to log on using this service, the privileged user password could be compromised.
low
The finger service provides information about the system's users to network clients. This could expose information that could be used in subsequent attacks.
medium
If other users have access to modify user-specific SSH configuration files, they may be able to log into the system as another user.
medium
Network analysis tools allow for the capture of network traffic visible to the system.
medium
SSH daemon privilege separation causes the SSH process to drop root privileges when not needed, which would decrease the impact of software vulnerabilities in the unprivileged section.
medium
Having the "+" character in the hosts.lpd (or equivalent) file allows all hosts to use local system print resources.
medium
If SSH permits rhosts RSA authentication, a user may be able to login based on the keys of the host originating the request and not any user-specific authentication..
medium
Failure to give ownership of the hosts.lpd file to root, bin, sys, or lp provides the designated owner, and possible unauthorized users, with the potential to modify the hosts.lpd file. Unauthorized modifications could disrupt access to local printers from authorized remote hosts or permit unauthorized remote access to local printers.
medium
Failure to give group-ownership of the hosts.lpd file to root, bin, sys, or system provides the members of the owning group and possible unauthorized users, with the potential to modify the hosts.lpd file. Unauthorized modifications could disrupt access to local printers from authorized remote hosts or permit unauthorized remote access to local printers.
medium
If compression is allowed in an SSH connection prior to authentication, vulnerabilities in the compression software could result in compromise of the system from an unauthenticated connection, potentially with root privileges.
medium
Excessive permissions on the hosts.lpd (or equivalent) file may permit unauthorized modification. Unauthorized modifications could disrupt access to local printers from authorized remote hosts or permit unauthorized remote access to local printers.
medium
The SSH daemon must be configured for IP filtering to provide a layered defense against connection attempts from unauthorized addresses.
medium
If the group owner of the traceroute command has not been set to a system group, unauthorized users could have access to the command and use it to gain information regarding a network's topology inside of the firewall. This information may allow an attacker to determine trusted routers and other network information possibly leading to system and network compromise.
high
If TFTP runs with the setuid or setgid bit set, it may be able to write to any file or directory and may seriously impair system integrity, confidentiality, and availability.
medium
If TFTP has a valid shell, it increases the likelihood that someone could logon to the TFTP account and compromise the system.
medium
If the aliases file is not owned by root, an unauthorized user may modify the file to add aliases to run malicious code or redirect e-mail.
medium
.Xauthority files ensure the user is authorized to access the specific X Windows host. Excessive permissions may permit unauthorized modification of these files, which could lead to Denial of Service to authorized access or allow unauthorized access to be obtained.
medium
If the alias file is not group-owned by root, bin, sys or other, an unauthorized user may modify the file to add aliases to run malicious code or redirect e-mail.
medium
Excessive permissions on the aliases file may permit unauthorized modification. If the alias file is modified by an unauthorized user, they may modify the file to run malicious code or redirect e-mail.
high
If a file executed through a mail aliases file is not owned and writable only by root, it may be subject to unauthorized modification. Unauthorized modification of files executed through aliases may allow unauthorized users to attain root privileges.
medium
The UUCP utility is designed to assist in transferring files, executing remote commands, and sending e-mail between UNIX systems over phone lines and direct connections between systems. The UUCP utility is a primitive and arcane system with many security issues. There are alternate data transfer utilities/products that can be configured to more securely transfer data by providing for authentication as well as encryption.
medium
The snmpd.conf file contains authenticators and must be protected from unauthorized access and modification.
medium
If the system is configured for IP forwarding and is not a designated router, it could be used to bypass network security by providing a path for communication not filtered by network devices.
medium
The ability to read the MIB file could impart special knowledge to an intruder or malicious user about the ability to extract compromising information about the system or network.
medium
If the group owner of /etc/syslog.conf is not root, bin, or sys, unauthorized users could be permitted to view, edit, or delete important system messages handled by the syslog facility.
medium
DoD information systems are required to use FIPS 140-2 approved ciphers. SSHv2 ciphers meeting this requirement are 3DES and AES.
medium
A syslog server (loghost) receives syslog messages from one or more systems. This data can be used as an authoritative log source in the event a system is compromised and its local logs are suspect.
medium
The CBC mode of encryption as implemented in the SSHv2 protocol is vulnerable to chosen plaintext attacks and must not be used.
medium
Unintentionally running a syslog server accepting remote messages puts the system at increased risk. Malicious syslog messages sent to the server could exploit vulnerabilities in the server software itself, could introduce misleading information in to the system's logs, or could fill the system's storage leading to a Denial of Service.
medium
Access control programs (such as TCP_WRAPPERS) provide the ability to enhance system security posture.
medium
The snmpd.conf file contains authenticators and must be protected from unauthorized access and modification. If the file is not owned by bin, it may be subject to access and modification from unauthorized users.
medium
Enabling the nosuid mount option prevents the system from granting owner or group-owner privileges to programs with the suid or sgid bit set. If the system does not restrict this access, users with unprivileged access to the local system may be able to acquire privileged access by executing suid or sgid files located on the mounted NFS file system.
medium
If access attempts are not logged, then multiple attempts to log on to the system by an unauthorized user may go undetected.
medium
Samba is a tool used for the sharing of files and printers between Windows and UNIX operating systems. It provides access to sensitive files and, therefore, poses a security risk if compromised.
high
SSHv1 is not a DoD-approved protocol and has many well-known vulnerability exploits. Exploits of the SSH daemon could provide immediate root access to the system.
medium
DoD information systems are required to use FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic hash functions.
medium
The /etc/smb.conf file allows access to other machines on the network and grants permissions to certain users. If it is owned by another user, the file may be maliciously modified and the Samba configuration could be compromised.
medium
If the group-owner of the smb.conf file is not root or a system group, the file may be maliciously modified and the Samba configuration could be compromised.
medium
If the smb.conf file has excessive permissions, the file may be maliciously modified and the Samba configuration could be compromised.
medium
If the system's access control program is not configured with appropriate rules for allowing and denying access to system network resources, services may be accessible to unauthorized hosts.
medium
ICMP redirect messages are used by routers to inform hosts of a more direct route existing for a particular destination. These messages modify the host's route table and are unauthenticated. An illicit ICMP redirect message could result in a man-in-the-middle attack.
medium
Even though communications are encrypted, an additional layer of security may be gained by extending the policy of not logging directly on as root. In addition, logging in with a user-specific account preserves the audit trail.
low
To ensure the root shell is available in repair and administrative modes, the root shell must be located in the / file system.
medium
INN servers access Usenet newsfeeds and store newsgroup articles. INN servers use the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) to transfer information from the Usenet to the server and from the server to authorized remote hosts.
If this function is necessary to support a valid mission requirement, its use must be authorized and approved in the system accreditation package.
medium
To enforce the use of complex passwords, minimum numbers of characters of different classes are mandated. The use of complex passwords reduces the ability of attackers to successfully obtain valid passwords using guessing or exhaustive search techniques. Complexity requirements increase the password search space by requiring users to construct passwords from a larger character set than they may otherwise use.
medium
To enforce the use of complex passwords, minimum numbers of characters of different classes are mandated. The use of complex passwords reduces the ability of attackers to successfully obtain valid passwords using guessing or exhaustive search techniques. Complexity requirements increase the password search space by requiring users to construct passwords from a larger character set than they may otherwise use.
medium
To enforce the use of complex passwords, minimum numbers of characters of different classes are mandated. The use of complex passwords reduces the ability of attackers to successfully obtain valid passwords using guessing or exhaustive search techniques. Complexity requirements increase the password search space by requiring users to construct passwords from a larger character set than they may otherwise use.
high
The .rhosts, .shosts, hosts.equiv, and shosts.equiv files are used to configure host-based authentication for individual users or the system. Host-based authentication is not sufficient for preventing unauthorized access to the system.
medium
To centralize the management of privileged account crontabs, of the default system accounts, only root may have a crontab.
medium
Source-routed packets allow the source of the packet to suggest routers forward the packet along a different path than configured on the router, which can be used to bypass network security measures. This requirement applies only to the forwarding of source-routed traffic, such as when IPv4 forwarding is enabled and the system is functioning as a router.
medium
The umask controls the default access mode assigned to newly created files. An umask of 077 limits new files to mode 700 or less permissive. Although umask is stored as a 4-digit number, the first digit representing special access modes is typically ignored or required to be zero.
medium
.rhosts files are used to specify a list of hosts permitted remote access to a particular account without authenticating. The use of such a mechanism defeats strong identification and authentication requirements.
medium
Global initialization files are used to configure the user's shell environment upon login. Malicious modification of these files could compromise accounts upon logon.
medium
Global initialization files are used to configure the user's shell environment upon login. Malicious modification of these files could compromise accounts upon logon. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
Global initialization files are used to configure the user's shell environment upon login. Malicious modification of these files could compromise accounts upon logon. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
If the skeleton files are not protected, unauthorized personnel could change user startup parameters and possibly jeopardize user files. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
The executable search path (typically the PATH environment variable) contains a list of directories for the shell to search to find executables. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, executables in these directories may be executed instead of system commands. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
A synchronized system clock is critical for the enforcement of time-based policies and the correlation of logs and audit records with other systems. If an illicit time source is used for synchronization, the integrity of system logs and the security of the system could be compromised. If the configuration files controlling time synchronization are not owned by a system account, unauthorized modifications could result in the failure of time synchronization.
medium
A synchronized system clock is critical for the enforcement of time-based policies and the correlation of logs and audit records with other systems. If an illicit time source is used for synchronization, the integrity of system logs and the security of the system could be compromised. If the configuration files controlling time synchronization are not owned by a system group, unauthorized modifications could result in the failure of time synchronization.
medium
A synchronized system clock is critical for the enforcement of time-based policies and the correlation of logs and audit records with other systems. If an illicit time source is used for synchronization, the integrity of system logs and the security of the system could be compromised. If the configuration files controlling time synchronization are not protected, unauthorized modifications could result in the failure of time synchronization.
low
Providing users with feedback on when account accesses last occurred facilitates user recognition and reporting of unauthorized account use.
medium
To enforce the use of complex passwords, minimum numbers of characters of different classes are mandated. The use of complex passwords reduces the ability of attackers to successfully obtain valid passwords using guessing or exhaustive search techniques. Complexity requirements increase the password search space by requiring users to construct passwords from a larger character set than they may otherwise use.
medium
The library search path environment variable(s) contain a list of directories for the dynamic linker to search to find libraries. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, libraries in these directories may be loaded instead of system libraries. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Entries starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The library preload list environment variable contains a list of libraries for the dynamic linker to load before loading the libraries required by the binary. If this list contains paths to libraries relative to the current working directory, unintended libraries may be preloaded. This variable is formatted as a space-separated list of libraries. Paths starting with (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The resolv.conf (or equivalent) file configures the system's DNS resolver. DNS is used to resolve host names to IP addresses. If DNS configuration is modified maliciously, host name resolution may fail or return incorrect information. DNS may be used by a variety of system security functions such as time synchronization, centralized authentication, and remote system logging.
medium
The resolv.conf (or equivalent) file configures the system's DNS resolver. DNS is used to resolve host names to IP addresses. If DNS configuration is modified maliciously, host name resolution may fail or return incorrect information. DNS may be used by a variety of system security functions such as time synchronization, centralized authentication, and remote system logging.
medium
The resolv.conf (or equivalent) file configures the system's DNS resolver. DNS is used to resolve host names to IP addresses. If DNS configuration is modified maliciously, host name resolution may fail or return incorrect information. DNS may be used by a variety of system security functions such as time synchronization, centralized authentication, and remote system logging.
medium
The /etc/hosts file (or equivalent) configures local host name to IP address mappings that typically take precedence over DNS resolution. If this file is maliciously modified, it could cause the failure or compromise of security functions requiring name resolution, which may include time synchronization, centralized authentication, and remote system logging.
medium
The /etc/hosts file (or equivalent) configures local host name to IP address mappings that typically take precedence over DNS resolution. If this file is maliciously modified, it could cause the failure or compromise of security functions requiring name resolution, which may include time synchronization, centralized authentication, and remote system logging.
medium
The /etc/hosts file (or equivalent) configures local host name to IP address mappings typically take precedence over DNS resolution. If this file is maliciously modified, it could cause the failure or compromise of security functions requiring name resolution, which may include time synchronization, centralized authentication, and remote system logging.
medium
The nsswitch.conf file (or equivalent) configures the source of a variety of system security information including account, group, and host lookups. Malicious changes could prevent the system from functioning or compromise system security.
medium
The nsswitch.conf file (or equivalent) configures the source of a variety of system security information including account, group, and host lookups. Malicious changes could prevent the system from functioning or compromise system security.
medium
The nsswitch.conf file (or equivalent) configures the source of a variety of system security information including account, group, and host lookups. Malicious changes could prevent the system from functioning or compromise system security.
medium
The /etc/passwd file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
The /etc/passwd file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
The /etc/group file is critical to system security and must be owned by a privileged user. The group file contains a list of system groups and associated information.
medium
The /etc/group file is critical to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. The group file contains a list of system groups and associated information.
medium
The /etc/group file is critical to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. The group file contains a list of system groups and associated information.
medium
The /etc/shadow file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. The file also contains password hashes which must not be accessible to users other than root.
medium
Group passwords are typically shared and should not be used. Additionally, if password hashes are readable by non-administrators, the passwords are subject to attack through lookup tables or cryptographic weaknesses in the hashes.
medium
The library search path environment variable(s) contain a list of directories for the dynamic linker to search to find libraries. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, libraries in these directories may be loaded instead of system libraries. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The library preload list environment variable contains a list of libraries for the dynamic linker to load before loading the libraries required by the binary. If this list contains paths to libraries relative to the current working directory, unintended libraries may be preloaded. This variable is formatted as a space-separated list of libraries. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
If the skeleton files are not protected, unauthorized personnel could change user startup parameters and possibly jeopardize user files.
medium
The library search path environment variable(s) contains a list of directories for the dynamic linker to search to find libraries. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, libraries in these directories may be loaded instead of system libraries. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The library preload list environment variable contains a list of libraries for the dynamic linker to load before loading the libraries required by the binary. If this list contains paths to libraries relative to the current working directory, unintended libraries may be preloaded. This variable is formatted as a space-separated list of libraries. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
The library search path environment variable(s) contain a list of directories for the dynamic linker to search to find libraries. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, libraries in these directories may be loaded instead of system libraries. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
If shell files are group-owned by users other than root or a system group, they could be modified by intruders or malicious users to perform unauthorized actions.
medium
If a file executed through a mail aliases file is not group-owned by root or a system group, it may be subject to unauthorized modification. Unauthorized modification of files executed through aliases may allow unauthorized users to attain root privileges.
medium
Unauthorized users must not be allowed to access or modify the /etc/syslog.conf file.
low
Automated file system mounting tools may provide unprivileged users with the ability to access local media and network shares. If this access is not necessary for the system’s operation, it must be disabled to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to these resources.
medium
The NSS LDAP service provides user mappings which are a vital component of system security. Communication between an LDAP server and a host using LDAP for NSS require authentication.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
The NSS LDAP service provides user mappings which are a vital component of system security. Its configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
medium
LDAP can be used to provide user authentication and account information, which are vital to system security. The LDAP client configuration must be protected from unauthorized modification.
NOTE: Depending on the particular implementation, group and other read permission may be necessary for unprivileged users to successfully resolve account information using LDAP. This will still be a finding, as these permissions provide users with access to system authenticators.
medium
A local firewall protects the system from exposing unnecessary or undocumented network services to the local enclave. If a system within the enclave is compromised, firewall protection on an individual system continues to protect it from attack.
low
System package management tools can obtain a list of updates and patches from a package repository and make this information available to the SA for review and action. Using a package repository outside of the organization's control presents a risk that malicious packages could be introduced.
medium
Failure to display the logon banner prior to a logon attempt will negate legal proceedings resulting from unauthorized access to system resources.
NOTE: SFTP and FTPS are encrypted alternatives to FTP that should be used in place of FTP. SFTP is implemented by the SSH service and uses its banner configuration.
medium
Failure to display the logon banner prior to a logon attempt will negate legal proceedings resulting from unauthorized access to system resources.
This requirement applies to graphical desktop environments provided by the system to locally attached displays and input devices as well as to graphical desktop environments provided to remote systems, including thin clients.
medium
The authentication of automated LDAP connections between systems must not use passwords since more secure methods are available, such as PKI and Kerberos. Additionally, the storage of unencrypted passwords on the system is not permitted.
medium
If graphical desktop sessions do not lock the session after 15 minutes of inactivity, requiring re-authentication to resume operations, the system or individual data could be compromised by an alert intruder who could exploit the oversight. This requirement applies to graphical desktop environments provided by the system to locally attached displays and input devices as well as to graphical desktop environments provided to remote systems, including thin clients.
medium
If a user, or root, used the same password continuously or was allowed to change it back shortly after being forced to change it, this would provide a potential intruder with the opportunity to keep guessing at one user's password until it was guessed correctly.
medium
The minimal set of auditing requirements necessary to collect useful forensics data and provide user help when violations are detected must be configured.
medium
If file permissions for cron.deny are more permissive than 0600, sensitive information could be viewed or edited by unauthorized users.
medium
If the owner of the cron.allow file is not set to root, bin, or sys, the possibility exists for an unauthorized user to view or to edit sensitive information.
medium
If the at directory has a mode more permissive than 0755, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or to edit files containing sensitive information within the at directory. Unauthorized modifications could result in Denial of Service to authorized at jobs.
medium
If the owner of the at directory is not root, bin, or sys, unauthorized users could be allowed to view or edit files containing sensitive information within the directory.
medium
If the mode of the traceroute executable is more permissive than 0700, malicious code could be inserted by an attacker and triggered whenever the traceroute command is executed by authorized users. Additionally, if an unauthorized user is granted executable permissions to the traceroute command, it could be used to gain information about the network topology behind the firewall. This information may allow an attacker to determine trusted routers and other network information possibly leading to system and network compromise.
low
The version of the SMTP service can be used by attackers to plan an attack based on vulnerabilities present in the specific version.
medium
If the /etc/syslog.conf file is not owned by bin, unauthorized users could be allowed to view, edit, or delete important system messages handled by the syslog facility.
medium
Cron daemon control files restrict the scheduling of automated tasks and must be protected.
medium
Failure to display the logon banner prior to a logon attempt will negate legal proceedings resulting from unauthorized access to system resources.
high
If an account is configured for password authentication but does not have an assigned password, it may be possible to log into the account without authentication. If the root user is configured without a password, the entire system may be compromised. For user accounts not using password authentication, the account must be configured with a password lock value instead of a blank or null value.
medium
If an account has an UID of 0, it has root authority. Multiple accounts with an UID of 0 afford more opportunity for potential intruders to compromise a privileged account.
medium
Permissions greater than 0700 could allow unauthorized users access to the root home directory.
medium
The executable search path (typically the PATH environment variable) contains a list of directories for the shell to search to find executables. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, executables in these directories may be executed instead of system commands. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Entries starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
If the root search path contains a world-writable directory, malicious software could be placed in the path by intruders and/or malicious users and inadvertently run by root with all of root's privileges.
medium
Limiting the root account direct logins to only system consoles protects the root account from direct unauthorized access from a non-console device.
low
If a user is assigned the GID of a group not existing on the system, and a group with that GID is subsequently created, the user may have unintended rights to the group.
medium
Restricting permission on daemons will protect them from unauthorized modification and possible system compromise.
medium
If the skeleton files are not protected, unauthorized personnel could change user startup parameters and possibly jeopardize user files.
medium
NIS/NIS+/yp files are part of the system's identification and authentication processes and are, therefore, critical to system security. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
NIS/NIS+/yp files are part of the system's identification and authentication processes and are, therefore, critical to system security. Unauthorized modification of these files could compromise these processes and the system.
medium
The /etc/shadow file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. Failure to give ownership of sensitive files or utilities to root or bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
If the passwd file is writable by a group owner or the world, the risk of passwd file compromise is increased. The passwd file contains the list of accounts on the system and associated information.
medium
The /etc/shadow file contains the list of local system accounts. It is vital to system security and must be protected from unauthorized modification. The file also contains password hashes which must not be accessible to users other than root. The Trusted Mode /tcb tree requires modes more permissive than the shadow file.
medium
The umask controls the default access mode assigned to newly created files. An umask of 077 limits new files to mode 700 or less permissive. Although umask can be represented as a 4-digit number, the first digit representing special access modes is typically ignored or required to be 0. This requirement applies to the globally configured system defaults and the user defaults for each account on the system.
medium
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
medium
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
medium
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
medium
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
medium
If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises and damages incurred during a system compromise.
low
If the mesg -n or mesg n command is not placed into the system profile, messaging can be used to cause a Denial of Service attack.
medium
If the file ftpusers is not owned by root, an unauthorized user may modify the file to allow unauthorized accounts to use FTP.
medium
Excessive permissions on the ftpusers file could permit unauthorized modification. Unauthorized modification could result in Denial of Service to authorized FTP users or permit unauthorized users to access the FTP service.
medium
Due to numerous security vulnerabilities existing within NIS, it must not be used. Possible alternative directory services are NIS+ and LDAP.
low
If users do not have a valid home directory, there is no place for the storage and control of files they own.
low
If a user has a home directory defined that does not exist, the user may be given the / directory, by default, as the current working directory upon logon. This could create a Denial of Service because the user would not be able to perform useful tasks in this location.
medium
Local initialization files are used to configure the user's shell environment upon login. Malicious modification of these files could compromise accounts upon logon.
medium
The executable search path (typically the PATH environment variable) contains a list of directories for the shell to search to find executables. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, executables in these directories may be executed instead of system commands. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths. The executable search path (typically the PATH environment variable) contains a list of directories for the shell to search to find executables. If this path includes the current working directory or other relative paths, executables in these directories may be executed instead of system commands. This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of directories. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is interpreted as the current working directory. Paths starting with a slash (/) are absolute paths.
medium
Unencrypted passwords for remote FTP servers may be stored in .netrc files. Policy requires passwords to be encrypted in storage and not used in access scripts.
medium
If shell files are owned by users other than root or bin, they could be modified by intruders or malicious users to perform unauthorized actions.
high
Shells with world/group-write permissions give the ability to maliciously modify the shell to obtain unauthorized access.
medium
System device files in writable directories could be modified, removed, or used by an unprivileged user to control system hardware.
medium
The cron facility allows users to execute recurring jobs on a regular and unattended basis. The cron.allow file designates accounts allowed to enter and execute jobs using the cron facility. If neither cron.allow nor cron.deny exists, then any account may use the cron facility. This may open the facility up for abuse by system intruders and malicious users.
medium
A cron.allow file, readable and/or writable by other than root, could allow potential intruders and malicious users to use the file contents to help discern information, such as who is allowed to execute cron programs, which could be harmful to overall system and network security.
medium
To protect the integrity of scheduled system jobs and prevent malicious modification to these jobs, crontab files must be secured.
medium
To protect the integrity of scheduled system jobs and to prevent malicious modification to these jobs, crontab files must be secured.
medium
Incorrect ownership of the cron or crontab directories could permit unauthorized users the ability to alter cron jobs and run automated jobs as privileged users. Failure to give ownership of cron or crontab directories to root or to bin provides the designated owner and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
To protect the integrity of scheduled system jobs and to prevent malicious modification to these jobs, crontab files must be secured. Failure to give group-ownership of cron or crontab directories to a system group provides the designated group and unauthorized users with the potential to access sensitive information or change the system configuration which could weaken the system's security posture.
medium
Cron logging can be used to trace the successful or unsuccessful execution of cron jobs. It can also be used to spot intrusions into the use of the cron facility by unauthorized and malicious users.
medium
Cron logs contain reports of scheduled system activities and must be protected from unauthorized access or manipulation.
medium
On some systems, if there is no at.allow file and there is an empty at.deny file, then the system assumes everyone has permission to use the at facility. This could create an insecure setting in the case of malicious users or system intruders.
medium
Default accounts, such as bin, sys, adm, uucp, daemon, and others, should never have access to the at facility. This would create a possible vulnerability open to intruders or malicious users.
medium
Permissions more permissive than 0600 (i.e. read, write and execute for the owner) may allow unauthorized or malicious access to the at.allow and/or at.deny files.
medium
When operating in standard mode, account passwords are stored in the /etc/passwd file, which is world readable. By operating in either Trusted Mode or Standard Mode with Security Extensions, the system security posture is enhanced thru the addition of a secure, non-world readable password container other than /etc/passwd.
medium
Failure to make root the owner of sensitive files and utilities may provide unauthorized owners the potential to access and/or change sensitive information or system configurations, thus weakening the overall security posture of a site.
medium
Root, sys, and bin are the most privileged group accounts, by default, for most UNIX systems. If a file as sensitive as /etc/securetty is not group-owned by a privileged group, it could lead to system compromise.
medium
Excessive permissions on the /etc/securetty file could result in unauthorized modification of the file. Changes to the file could reduce the system's security by specifying additional terminals permitted to accept root logins, or deny service by preventing root logins on authorized terminals.