Enable Kernel Parameter to Use TCP Syncookies on Network Interfaces

An XCCDF Rule

Description

To set the runtime status of the net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies kernel parameter, run the following command:

$ sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies=1

To make sure that the setting is persistent, add the following line to a file in the directory /etc/sysctl.d:

net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1

Rationale

A TCP SYN flood attack can cause a denial of service by filling a system's TCP connection table with connections in the SYN_RCVD state. Syncookies can be used to track a connection when a subsequent ACK is received, verifying the initiator is attempting a valid connection and is not a flood source. This feature is activated when a flood condition is detected, and enables the system to continue servicing valid connection requests.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies
Severity: Medium
References: BP28(R22)

1 12 13 14 15 16 18 2 4 6 7 8 9

5.10.1.1

APO01.06 APO13.01 BAI04.04 DSS01.03 DSS01.05 DSS03.01 DSS03.05 DSS05.02 DSS05.04 DSS05.07 DSS06.02

3.1.20

CCI-000366 CCI-001095

4.2.3.4 4.3.3.4 4.4.3.3

SR 3.1 SR 3.5 SR 3.8 SR 4.1 SR 4.3 SR 5.1 SR 5.2 SR 5.3 SR 6.2 SR 7.1 SR 7.2 SR 7.6

A.10.1.1 A.11.1.4 A.11.1.5 A.11.2.1 A.12.1.1 A.12.1.2 A.12.1.3 A.13.1.1 A.13.1.2 A.13.1.3 A.13.2.1 A.13.2.2 A.13.2.3 A.13.2.4 A.14.1.2 A.14.1.3 A.17.2.1 A.6.1.2 A.7.1.1 A.7.1.2 A.7.3.1 A.8.2.2 A.8.2.3 A.9.1.1 A.9.1.2 A.9.2.3 A.9.4.1 A.9.4.4 A.9.4.5

CM-6(a) CM-7(a) CM-7(b) SC-5(1) SC-5(2) SC-5(3)(a)

DE.AE-1 DE.CM-1 ID.AM-3 PR.AC-5 PR.DS-4 PR.DS-5 PR.PT-4

Req-1.4.1

SRG-OS-000142-GPOS-00071 SRG-OS-000420-GPOS-00186 SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

1.4.3
Updated: about 1 year ago

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if [ ! -f /.dockerenv ] && [ ! -f /run/.containerenv ]; then

# Comment out any occurrences of net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies from /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf files

for f in /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf /run/sysctl.d/*.conf /usr/local/lib/sysctl.d/*.conf; do
  matching_list=$(grep -P '^(?!#).*[\s]*net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies.*$' $f | uniq )
  if ! test -z "$matching_list"; then
    while IFS= read -r entry; do
      escaped_entry=$(sed -e 's|/|\\/|g' <<< "$entry")
      # comment out "net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies" matches to preserve user data
      sed -i "s/^${escaped_entry}$/# &/g" $f
    done <<< "$matching_list"
  fi
done

#
# Set sysctl config file which to save the desired value
#

SYSCONFIG_FILE="/etc/sysctl.conf"

sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value='<xccdf-1.2:sub xmlns:xccdf-1.2="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2" idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value" use="legacy"/>'


#
# Set runtime for net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies
#
/sbin/sysctl -q -n -w net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies="$sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value"

#
# If net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies present in /etc/sysctl.conf, change value to appropriate value
#	else, add "net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = value" to /etc/sysctl.conf
#

# Strip any search characters in the key arg so that the key can be replaced without
# adding any search characters to the config file.
stripped_key=$(sed 's/[\^=\$,;+]*//g' <<< "^net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies")

# shellcheck disable=SC2059
printf -v formatted_output "%s = %s" "$stripped_key" "$sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value"

# If the key exists, change it. Otherwise, add it to the config_file.
# We search for the key string followed by a word boundary (matched by \>),
# so if we search for 'setting', 'setting2' won't match.
if LC_ALL=C grep -q -m 1 -i -e "^net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies\\>" "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"; then
    escaped_formatted_output=$(sed -e 's|/|\\/|g' <<< "$formatted_output")
    LC_ALL=C sed -i --follow-symlinks "s/^net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies\\>.*/$escaped_formatted_output/gi" "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"
else
    if [[ -s "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}" ]] && [[ -n "$(tail -c 1 -- "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}" || true)" ]]; then
        LC_ALL=C sed -i --follow-symlinks '$a'\\ "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"
    fi
    printf '%s\n' "$formatted_output" >> "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"
fi

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

- name: List /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf files
  find:
    paths:
    - /etc/sysctl.d/
    - /run/sysctl.d/
    - /usr/local/lib/sysctl.d/    contains: ^[\s]*net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies.*$
    patterns: '*.conf'
    file_type: any
  register: find_sysctl_d
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - CJIS-5.10.1.1
  - NIST-800-171-3.1.20
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(1)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(2)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(3)(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-1.4.3
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - medium_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - reboot_required
  - sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies

- name: Comment out any occurrences of net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies from config files
  replace:
    path: '{{ item.path }}'
    regexp: ^[\s]*net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies
    replace: '#net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies'
  loop: '{{ find_sysctl_d.files }}'
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - CJIS-5.10.1.1
  - NIST-800-171-3.1.20
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(1)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(2)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(3)(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-1.4.3
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - medium_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - reboot_required
  - sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies
- name: XCCDF Value sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value # promote to variable
  set_fact:
    sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value: !!str <xccdf-1.2:sub xmlns:xccdf-1.2="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2" idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value" use="legacy"/>
  tags:
    - always

- name: Ensure sysctl net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies is set
  sysctl:
    name: net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies
    value: '{{ sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value }}'
    sysctl_file: /etc/sysctl.conf
    state: present
    reload: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - CJIS-5.10.1.1
  - NIST-800-171-3.1.20
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(1)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(2)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-5(3)(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-1.4.3
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - medium_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - reboot_required
  - sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies

Enable Kernel Parameter to Use TCP Syncookies on Network Interfaces

Description

Rationale

Remediation - Shell Script

Remediation - Ansible