SV-37979r1: The system must use available memory address randomization techniques. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The system must use available memory address randomization techniques.

Description

Discussion Text

Successful exploitation of buffer overflow vulnerabilities relies in some measure to having a predictable address structure of the executing program. Address randomization techniques reduce the probability of a successful exploit.

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:437
# The system must use available memory address randomization techniques.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# check exec-shield existence
# file_object (file_test)
test_1() {
  ! ( test -e '/proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield' &>/dev/null )
}
# exec-shield must be set to 1 if exists
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_2() {
  (sed -En 's/^([0-9]+)$/\1/p' '/proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield') | grep -qxF '1'
}

if ( test_1 || test_2 ); 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:437 compliance check

if [ ! -f "/proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield" ]; then
    echo "PASS"
    exit 0
fi

if grep -q "^exec-shield = 1$" /proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield || grep -q "^exec-shield=1$" /proc/sys/kernel/exec-shield; then
    echo "PASS"
    exit 0
fi

echo "FAIL"
exit 1

Remediation

Edit the kernel boot parameters, or "/etc/sysctl.conf", and set exec-shield to "1". Reboot the system.