Guide to the Secure Configuration of Ubuntu 16.04
Rules, Groups, and Values defined within the XCCDF Benchmark
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Verify Group Who Owns /var/log/messages File
To properly set the group owner of/var/log/messages
, run the command:$ sudo chgrp root /var/log/messages
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify Group Who Owns /var/log/syslog File
To properly set the group owner of/var/log/syslog
, run the command:$ sudo chgrp adm /var/log/syslog
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify User Who Owns /var/log Directory
To properly set the owner of/var/log
, run the command:$ sudo chown root /var/log
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify User Who Owns /var/log/messages File
To properly set the owner of/var/log/messages
, run the command:$ sudo chown root /var/log/messages
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify User Who Owns /var/log/syslog File
To properly set the owner of/var/log/syslog
, run the command:$ sudo chown syslog /var/log/syslog
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify Permissions on /var/log Directory
To properly set the permissions of/var/log
, run the command:$ sudo chmod 0755 /var/log
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify Permissions on /var/log/messages File
To properly set the permissions of/var/log/messages
, run the command:$ sudo chmod 0640 /var/log/messages
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify Permissions on /var/log/syslog File
To properly set the permissions of/var/log/syslog
, run the command:$ sudo chmod 0640 /var/log/syslog
Rule Medium Severity -
Verify File Permissions Within Some Important Directories
Some directories contain files whose confidentiality or integrity is notably important and may also be susceptible to misconfiguration over time, particularly if unpackaged software is installed. A...Group -
Verify that Shared Library Directories Have Root Ownership
System-wide shared library files, which are linked to executables during process load time or run time, are stored in the following directories by default: <pre>/lib /lib64 /usr/lib /usr/lib64 </pr...Rule Medium Severity -
Verify that System Executables Have Root Ownership
System executables are stored in the following directories by default: <pre>/bin /sbin /usr/bin /usr/libexec /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin /usr/sbin</pre> All files in these directories should be ...Rule Medium Severity -
Verify that Shared Library Files Have Root Ownership
System-wide shared library files, which are linked to executables during process load time or run time, are stored in the following directories by default: <pre>/lib /lib64 /usr/lib /usr/lib64 </pr...Rule Medium Severity -
Verify that System Executables Have Restrictive Permissions
System executables are stored in the following directories by default: <pre>/bin /sbin /usr/bin /usr/libexec /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin /usr/sbin</pre> All files in these directories should not...Rule Medium Severity -
Verify that Shared Library Files Have Restrictive Permissions
System-wide shared library files, which are linked to executables during process load time or run time, are stored in the following directories by default: <pre>/lib /lib64 /usr/lib /usr/lib64 </pr...Rule Medium Severity -
Restrict Partition Mount Options
System partitions can be mounted with certain options that limit what files on those partitions can do. These options are set in the <code>/etc/fstab</code> configuration file, and can be used to m...Group -
Add nodev Option to /dev/shm
The <code>nodev</code> mount option can be used to prevent creation of device files in <code>/dev/shm</code>. Legitimate character and block devices should not exist within temporary directories li...Rule Medium Severity -
Add nosuid Option to /dev/shm
The <code>nosuid</code> mount option can be used to prevent execution of setuid programs in <code>/dev/shm</code>. The SUID and SGID permissions should not be required in these world-writable dire...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 are activated. These protections are applied at the ...Group -
Disable the uvcvideo module
If the device contains a camera it should be covered or disabled when not in use.Rule Medium Severity -
Disable core dump backtraces
The <code>ProcessSizeMax</code> option in <code>[Coredump]</code> section of <code>/etc/systemd/coredump.conf</code> specifies the maximum size in bytes of a core which will be processed. Core dump...Rule Medium Severity -
Disable storing core dump
TheStorage
option in[Coredump]
sectionof/etc/systemd/coredump.conf
can be set tonone
to disable storing core dumps permanently.Rule Medium Severity -
Disable Core Dumps for SUID programs
To set the runtime status of the <code>fs.suid_dumpable</code> kernel parameter, run the following command: <pre>$ sudo sysctl -w fs.suid_dumpable=0</pre> To make sure that the setting is persisten...Rule Medium Severity -
Enable ExecShield
ExecShield describes kernel features that provide protection against exploitation of memory corruption errors such as buffer overflows. These features include random placement of the stack and othe...Group -
kernel.kptr_restrict
Configure exposition of kernel pointer addressesValue -
Enable Randomized Layout of Virtual Address Space
To set the runtime status of the <code>kernel.randomize_va_space</code> kernel parameter, run the following command: <pre>$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.randomize_va_space=2</pre> To make sure that the se...Rule Medium Severity -
SELinux
SELinux is a feature of the Linux kernel which can be used to guard against misconfigured or compromised programs. SELinux enforces the idea that programs should be limited in what files they can a...Group -
SELinux state
enforcing - SELinux security policy is enforced.
permissive - SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing.
disabled - SELinux is fully disabled.Value -
Ensure SELinux is Not Disabled
The SELinux state should be set to <code>enforcing</code> or <code>permissive</code> at system boot time. In the file <code>/etc/selinux/config</code>, add or correct the following line to configur...Rule High Severity -
APT service configuration
The apt service manage the package management and update of the whole system. Its configuration need to be properly defined to ensure efficient security updates, packages and repository authenticat...Group -
Disable unauthenticated repositories in APT configuration
Unauthenticated repositories should not be used for updates.Rule Unknown Severity -
Avahi Server
The Avahi daemon implements the DNS Service Discovery and Multicast DNS protocols, which provide service and host discovery on a network. It allows a system to automatically identify resources on t...Group -
Configure Avahi if Necessary
If your system requires the Avahi daemon, its configuration can be restricted to improve security. The Avahi daemon configuration file is <code>/etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf</code>. The following se...Group -
Cron and At Daemons
The cron and at services are used to allow commands to be executed at a later time. The cron service is required by almost all systems to perform necessary maintenance tasks, while at may or may no...Group -
Install the cron service
The Cron service should be installed.Rule Medium Severity -
Enable cron Service
The <code>crond</code> service is used to execute commands at preconfigured times. It is required by almost all systems to perform necessary maintenance tasks, such as notifying root of system acti...Rule Medium Severity -
Deprecated services
Some deprecated software services impact the overall system security due to their behavior (leak of confidentiality in network exchange, usage as uncontrolled communication channel, risk associated...Group -
Uninstall the inet-based telnet server
The inet-based telnet daemon should be uninstalled.Rule High Severity -
Uninstall the nis package
The support for Yellowpages should not be installed unless it is required.Rule Low Severity -
Uninstall the ntpdate package
ntpdate is a historical ntp synchronization client for unixes. It sould be uninstalled.Rule Low Severity -
Uninstall the ssl compliant telnet server
Thetelnet
daemon, even with ssl support, should be uninstalled.Rule High Severity -
Uninstall the telnet server
The telnet daemon should be uninstalled.Rule High Severity -
Configure DHCP Client if Necessary
If DHCP must be used, then certain configuration changes can minimize the amount of information it receives and applies from the network, and thus the amount of incorrect information a rogue DHCP s...Group -
Configure DHCP Server
If the system must act as a DHCP server, the configuration information it serves should be minimized. Also, support for other protocols and DNS-updating schemes should be explicitly disabled unless...Group -
Minimize Served Information
Edit /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf. Examine each address range section within the file, and ensure that the following options are not defined unless there is an operational need to provide this information ...Rule Unknown Severity -
SSH Privilege Separation Setting
Specify whether and how sshd separates privileges when handling incoming network connections.Value -
Application Whitelisting Daemon
Fapolicyd (File Access Policy Daemon) implements application whitelisting to decide file access rights. Applications that are known via a reputation source are allowed access while unknown applicat...Group -
fapolicyd Must be Configured to Limit Access to Users Home Folders
fapolicyd needs be configured so that users cannot give access to their home folders to other users.Rule Medium Severity -
Configure vsftpd to Provide FTP Service if Necessary
The primary vsftpd configuration file is/etc/vsftpd.conf
, if that file exists, or/etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf
if it does not.Group -
Restrict the Set of Users Allowed to Access FTP
This section describes how to disable non-anonymous (password-based) FTP logins, or, if it is not possible to do this entirely due to legacy applications, how to restrict insecure FTP login to only...Group -
Limit Users Allowed FTP Access if Necessary
If there is a mission-critical reason for users to access their accounts via the insecure FTP protocol, limit the set of users who are allowed this access. Edit the vsftpd configuration file. Add o...Rule Unknown Severity
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