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Disable X Windows Startup By Setting Default Target

An XCCDF Rule

Description

Systems that do not require a graphical user interface should only boot by default into multi-user.target mode. This prevents accidental booting of the system into a graphical.target mode. Setting the system's default target to multi-user.target will prevent automatic startup of the X server. To do so, run: 

$ systemctl set-default multi-user.target
You should see the following output: 
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/default.target.
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/default.target to /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target.

Rationale

Services that are not required for system and application processes must not be active to decrease the attack surface of the system. X windows has a long history of security vulnerabilities and should not be used unless approved and documented.

ID
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_xwindows_runlevel_target
Severity
Medium
References
Updated



Remediation - Shell Script

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

systemctl set-default multi-user.target

else

Remediation - Ansible

- name: Switch to multi-user runlevel
  file:
    src: /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target
    dest: /etc/systemd/system/default.target
    state: link
    force: true