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Guide to the Secure Configuration of Oracle Linux 8

Rules, Groups, and Values defined within the XCCDF Benchmark

  • Ensure Log Files Are Owned By Appropriate User

    The owner of all log files written by <code>rsyslog</code> should be <code>root</code>. These log files are determined by the second part of each...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure System Log Files Have Correct Permissions

    The file permissions for all log files written by <code>rsyslog</code> should be set to 640, or more restrictive. These log files are determined by...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure remote access methods are monitored in Rsyslog

    Logging of remote access methods must be implemented to help identify cyber attacks and ensure ongoing compliance with remote access policies are b...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • systemd-journald

    systemd-journald is a system service that collects and stores logging data. It creates and maintains structured, indexed journals based on logging ...
    Group
  • Enable systemd-journald Service

    The <code>systemd-journald</code> service is an essential component of systemd. The <code>systemd-journald</code> service can be enabled with the ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure All Logs are Rotated by logrotate

    Edit the file <code>/etc/logrotate.d/syslog</code>. Find the first line, which should look like this (wrapped for clarity): <pre>/var/log/message...
    Group
  • Ensure logrotate is Installed

    logrotate is installed by default. The <code>logrotate</code> package can be installed with the following command: <pre> $ sudo yum install logrota...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure CA certificate for rsyslog remote logging

    Configure CA certificate for <code>rsyslog</code> logging to remote server using Transport Layer Security (TLS) using correct path for the <code>De...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure rsyslogd to Accept Remote Messages If Acting as a Log Server

    By default, <code>rsyslog</code> does not listen over the network for log messages. If needed, modules can be enabled to allow the rsyslog daemon t...
    Group
  • Ensure syslog-ng is Installed

    syslog-ng can be installed in replacement of rsyslog. The <code>syslog-ng-core</code> package can be installed with the following command: <pre> $ ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable syslog-ng Service

    The <code>syslog-ng</code> service (in replacement of rsyslog) provides syslog-style logging by default on Debian. The <code>syslog-ng</code> serv...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable rsyslog to Accept Messages via TCP, if Acting As Log Server

    The <code>rsyslog</code> daemon should not accept remote messages unless the system acts as a log server. If the system needs to act as a central l...
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Enable rsyslog to Accept Messages via UDP, if Acting As Log Server

    The <code>rsyslog</code> daemon should not accept remote messages unless the system acts as a log server. If the system needs to act as a central l...
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Ensure rsyslog Does Not Accept Remote Messages Unless Acting As Log Server

    The <code>rsyslog</code> daemon should not accept remote messages unless the system acts as a log server. To ensure that it is not listening on the...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Rsyslog Logs Sent To Remote Host

    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...
    Group
  • Remote Log Server

    Specify an URI or IP address of a remote host where the log messages will be sent and stored.
    Value
  • Ensure Logs Sent To Remote Host

    To configure rsyslog to send logs to a remote log server, open <code>/etc/rsyslog.conf</code> and read and understand the last section of the file,...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure TLS for rsyslog remote logging

    Configure <code>rsyslog</code> to use Transport Layer Security (TLS) support for logging to remote server for the Forwarding Output Module in <code...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Restrict Programs from Dangerous Execution Patterns

    The recommendations in this section are designed to ensure that the system's features to protect against potentially dangerous program execution ar...
    Group
  • Network Configuration and Firewalls

    Most systems must be connected to a network of some sort, and this brings with it the substantial risk of network attack. This section discusses th...
    Group
  • Configure Multiple DNS Servers in /etc/resolv.conf

    Determine whether the system is using local or DNS name resolution with the following command: <pre>$ sudo grep hosts /etc/nsswitch.conf hosts: fi...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Grant Or Deny System Access To Specific Hosts And Services

    To verify the system's access control program is configured to grant or deny system access to specific hosts check to see if "firewalld" is active ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure System is Not Acting as a Network Sniffer

    The system should not be acting as a network sniffer, which can capture all traffic on the network to which it is connected. Run the following to d...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • firewalld

    The dynamic firewall daemon <code>firewalld</code> provides a dynamically managed firewall with support for network “zones” to assign a level of tr...
    Group
  • Configure Firewalld to Use the Nftables Backend

    Firewalld can be configured with many backends, such as nftables.
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Inspect and Activate Default firewalld Rules

    Firewalls can be used to separate networks into different zones based on the level of trust the user has decided to place on the devices and traffi...
    Group
  • Verify User Who Owns Backup passwd File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/passwd-, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/passwd- 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Install firewalld Package

    The firewalld package can be installed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum install firewalld
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify firewalld Enabled

    The firewalld service can be enabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl enable firewalld.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Strengthen the Default Ruleset

    The default rules can be strengthened. The system scripts that activate the firewall rules expect them to be defined in configuration files under t...
    Group
  • Configure the Firewalld Ports

    Configure the <code>firewalld</code> ports to allow approved services to have access to the system. To configure <code>firewalld</code> to open por...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Firewalld Must Employ a Deny-all, Allow-by-exception Policy for Allowing Connections to Other Systems

    Oracle Linux 8 incorporates the "firewalld" daemon, which allows for many different configurations. One of these configurations is zones. Zones can...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set Default firewalld Zone for Incoming Packets

    To set the default zone to <code>drop</code> for the built-in default zone which processes incoming IPv4 and IPv6 packets, modify the following lin...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • IPSec Support

    Support for Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is provided with Libreswan.
    Group
  • Install libreswan Package

    The libreswan package provides an implementation of IPsec and IKE, which permits the creation of secure tunnels over untrusted networks. The <code>...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Any Configured IPSec Tunnel Connections

    Libreswan provides an implementation of IPsec and IKE, which permits the creation of secure tunnels over untrusted networks. As such, IPsec can be ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • kernel.unprivileged_bpf_disabled

    Prevent unprivileged processes from using the bpf() syscall.
    Value
  • Set Default iptables Policy for Incoming Packets

    To set the default policy to DROP (instead of ACCEPT) for the built-in INPUT chain which processes incoming packets, add or correct the following l...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • iptables and ip6tables

    A host-based firewall called <code>netfilter</code> is included as part of the Linux kernel distributed with the system. It is activated by default...
    Group
  • Install iptables Package

    The iptables package can be installed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum install iptables
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Inspect and Activate Default Rules

    View the currently-enforced <code>iptables</code> rules by running the command: <pre>$ sudo iptables -nL --line-numbers</pre> The command is analog...
    Group
  • Verify ip6tables Enabled if Using IPv6

    The ip6tables service can be enabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl enable ip6tables.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify iptables Enabled

    The iptables service can be enabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl enable iptables.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set Default ip6tables Policy for Incoming Packets

    To set the default policy to DROP (instead of ACCEPT) for the built-in INPUT chain which processes incoming packets, add or correct the following l...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Strengthen the Default Ruleset

    The default rules can be strengthened. The system scripts that activate the firewall rules expect them to be defined in the configuration files <co...
    Group
  • Disable Bluetooth Kernel Module

    The kernel's module loading system can be configured to prevent loading of the Bluetooth module. Add the following to the appropriate <code>/etc/mo...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable IPv6 Addressing on All IPv6 Interfaces

    To disable support for (<code>ipv6</code>) addressing on all interface add the following line to <code>/etc/sysctl.d/ipv6.conf</code> (or another f...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • SELinux state

    enforcing - SELinux security policy is enforced. <br>permissive - SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing. <br>disabled - SELinux is fully dis...
    Value
  • Set Default iptables Policy for Forwarded Packets

    To set the default policy to DROP (instead of ACCEPT) for the built-in FORWARD chain which processes packets that will be forwarded from one interf...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Restrict ICMP Message Types

    In <code>/etc/sysconfig/iptables</code>, the accepted ICMP messages types can be restricted. To accept only ICMP echo reply, destination unreachabl...
    Group

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