SV-37289r1: Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands.

Description

Discussion Text

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.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000366

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

IA Controls

ECSC-1

References

DPMS Target Red Hat 5 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat 5 2154

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

#!/bin/bash
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:132
# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. (bashrc)
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  grep -Pq '^[^#]*mesg -?n' '/etc/bashrc' &>/dev/null
}
# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. (profile)
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_2() {
  grep -Pq '^[^#]*mesg -?n' '/etc/profile' &>/dev/null
}
# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. (environment)
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_3() {
  grep -Pq '^[^#]*mesg -?n' '/etc/environment' &>/dev/null
}
# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. (security/environ)
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_4() {
  grep -Pq '^[^#]*mesg -?n' '/etc/security/environ' &>/dev/null
}
# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. (.login)
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_5() {
  grep -Pq '^[^#]*mesg -?n' '/etc/.login' &>/dev/null
}
# Global initialization files must contain the "mesg -n" or "mesg n" commands. (profile.d/.*)
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_6() {
  grep -rqP --include='*' '^[^#]*mesg -?n' '/etc/profile.d' &>/dev/null
}

if ! ( test_1 || test_2 || test_3 || test_4 || test_5 || test_6 ); then
  echo "PASS"
else
  echo "FAIL"
fi

Assessment Script Powered by AISandbox-executed

A standalone Shell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked and actually executed in an isolated sandbox (not the real system this checks) — confirmed to run without errors.

#!/bin/sh
# oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:132

if grep -qE "^[^#]*mesg -?n" /etc/{bashrc,profile,environment,.login}; then
    echo "PASS"
    exit 0
else
    echo "FAIL"
    exit 1
fi

Remediation

Edit /etc/profile or another global initialization script, and add the "mesg -n" command.