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Guide to the Secure Configuration of Oracle Linux 7

Rules, Groups, and Values defined within the XCCDF Benchmark

  • Enable the NTP Daemon

    The ntpd service can be enabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl enable ntpd.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • SSH Max Keep Alive Count

    Specify the maximum number of idle message counts before session is terminated.
    Value
  • Remove NIS Client

    The Network Information Service (NIS), formerly known as Yellow Pages, is a client-server directory service protocol used to distribute system conf...
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Configure Time Service Maxpoll Interval

    The <code>maxpoll</code> should be configured to <xccdf-1.2:sub idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_var_time_service_set_maxpoll" use="legacy...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Specify Additional Remote NTP Servers

    Depending on specific functional requirements of a concrete production environment, the Oracle Linux 7 system can be configured to utilize the serv...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Specify a Remote NTP Server

    Depending on specific functional requirements of a concrete production environment, the Oracle Linux 7 system can be configured to utilize the serv...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure Chrony is only configured with the server directive

    Check that Chrony only has time sources configured with the server directive.
    Rule Medium Severity
  • A remote time server for Chrony is configured

    <code>Chrony</code> is a daemon which implements the Network Time Protocol (NTP). It is designed to synchronize system clocks across a variety of s...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Specify Additional Remote NTP Servers

    Additional NTP servers can be specified for time synchronization in the file <code>/etc/ntp.conf</code>. To do so, add additional lines of the fol...
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Specify a Remote NTP Server

    To specify a remote NTP server for time synchronization, edit the file <code>/etc/ntp.conf</code>. Add or correct the following lines, substituting...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Chat/Messaging Services

    The talk software makes it possible for users to send and receive messages across systems through a terminal session.
    Group
  • Obsolete Services

    This section discusses a number of network-visible services which have historically caused problems for system security, and for which disabling or...
    Group
  • Ensure rsyncd service is disabled

    The rsyncd service can be disabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl mask --now rsyncd.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Xinetd

    The <code>xinetd</code> service acts as a dedicated listener for some network services (mostly, obsolete ones) and can be used to provide access co...
    Group
  • Uninstall xinetd Package

    The xinetd package can be removed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum erase xinetd
    Rule Low Severity
  • Disable xinetd Service

    The xinetd service can be disabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl mask --now xinetd.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure /etc/hosts.deny is configured

    The file <code>/etc/hosts.deny</code> together with <code>/etc/hosts.allow</code> provides a simple access control mechanism for network services s...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Ownership of /etc/hosts.allow

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/hosts.allow, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/hosts.allow
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Ownership of /etc/hosts.deny

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/hosts.deny, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/hosts.deny
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Ownership of /etc/hosts.allow

    To properly set the owner of /etc/hosts.allow, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/hosts.allow 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Ownership of /etc/hosts.deny

    To properly set the owner of /etc/hosts.deny, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/hosts.deny 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on /etc/hosts.allow

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/hosts.allow, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/hosts.allow
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on /etc/hosts.deny

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/hosts.deny, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/hosts.deny
    Rule Medium Severity
  • NIS

    The Network Information Service (NIS), also known as 'Yellow Pages' (YP), and its successor NIS+ have been made obsolete by Kerberos, LDAP, and oth...
    Group
  • Uninstall talk-server Package

    The talk-server package can be removed with the following command:
     $ sudo yum erase talk-server
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Uninstall ypserv Package

    The ypserv package can be removed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum erase ypserv
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable ypbind Service

    The <code>ypbind</code> service, which allows the system to act as a client in a NIS or NIS+ domain, should be disabled. The <code>ypbind</code> s...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Rlogin, Rsh, and Rexec

    The Berkeley r-commands are legacy services which allow cleartext remote access and have an insecure trust model.
    Group
  • Uninstall rsh-server Package

    The rsh-server package can be removed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum erase rsh-server
    Rule High Severity
  • Uninstall rsh Package

    The rsh package contains the client commands for the rsh services
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Disable rexec Service

    The <code>rexec</code> service, which is available with the <code>rsh-server</code> package and runs as a service through xinetd or separately as a...
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable rlogin Service

    The <code>rlogin</code> service, which is available with the <code>rsh-server</code> package and runs as a service through xinetd or separately as ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable rsh Service

    The <code>rsh</code> service, which is available with the <code>rsh-server</code> package and runs as a service through xinetd or separately as a s...
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove Host-Based Authentication Files

    The <code>shosts.equiv</code> file lists remote hosts and users that are trusted by the local system. To remove these files, run the following comm...
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove Rsh Trust Files

    The files <code>/etc/hosts.equiv</code> and <code>~/.rhosts</code> (in each user's home directory) list remote hosts and users that are trusted by ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove User Host-Based Authentication Files

    The <code>~/.shosts</code> (in each user's home directory) files list remote hosts and users that are trusted by the local system. To remove these ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Uninstall talk Package

    The <code>talk</code> package contains the client program for the Internet talk protocol, which allows the user to chat with other users on differe...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Telnet

    The telnet protocol does not provide confidentiality or integrity for information transmitted on the network. This includes authentication informat...
    Group
  • Uninstall telnet-server Package

    The telnet-server package can be removed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum erase telnet-server
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove telnet Clients

    The telnet client allows users to start connections to other systems via the telnet protocol.
    Rule Low Severity
  • Disable telnet Service

    Make sure that the activation of the <code>telnet</code> service on system boot is disabled. The <code>telnet</code> socket can be disabled with t...
    Rule High Severity
  • TFTP Server

    TFTP is a lightweight version of the FTP protocol which has traditionally been used to configure networking equipment. However, TFTP provides littl...
    Group
  • TFTP server secure directory

    Specify the directory which is used by TFTP server as a root directory when running in secure mode.
    Value
  • Uninstall tftp-server Package

    The tftp-server package can be removed with the following command:
     $ sudo yum erase tftp-server
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove tftp Daemon

    Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a simple file transfer protocol, typically used to automatically transfer configuration or boot files betw...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure tftp Daemon Uses Secure Mode

    If running the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) service is necessary, it should be configured to change its root directory at startup. To do s...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Print Support

    The Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) service provides both local and network printing support. A system running the CUPS service can accept print...
    Group
  • Configure the CUPS Service if Necessary

    CUPS provides the ability to easily share local printers with other systems over the network. It does this by allowing systems to share lists of av...
    Group
  • Proxy Server

    A proxy server is a very desirable target for a potential adversary because much (or all) sensitive data for a given infrastructure may flow throug...
    Group
  • Disable Squid if Possible

    If Squid was installed and activated, but the system does not need to act as a proxy server, then it should be disabled and removed.
    Group

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