Enable the NTP Daemon

An XCCDF Rule

Description

Run the following command to determine the current status of the chronyd service:

$ sudo systemctl is-active chronyd

If the service is running, it should return the following:

active

Note: The chronyd daemon is enabled by default.

Run the following command to determine the current status of the ntpd service:

$ sudo systemctl is-active ntpd

If the service is running, it should return the following:

active

Note: The ntpd daemon is not enabled by default. Though as mentioned in the previous sections in certain environments the ntpd daemon might be preferred to be used rather than the chronyd one. Refer to: https://docs.oracle.com/en/operating-systems/oracle-linux/8/network/network-ConfiguringNetworkTime.html#ol-nettime for guidance which NTP daemon to choose depending on the environment used.

Rationale

Enabling some of chronyd or ntpd services ensures that the NTP daemon will be running and that the system will synchronize its time to any servers specified. This is important whether the system is configured to be a client (and synchronize only its own clock) or it is also acting as an NTP server to other systems. Synchronizing time is essential for authentication services such as Kerberos, but it is also important for maintaining accurate logs and auditing possible security breaches.

The chronyd and ntpd NTP daemons offer all of the functionality of ntpdate, which is now deprecated.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_service_chronyd_or_ntpd_enabled
Severity: Medium
References: BP28(R71)

1 14 15 16 3 5 6

APO11.04 BAI03.05 DSS05.04 DSS05.07 MEA02.01

3.3.7

CCI-000160

4.3.3.3.9 4.3.3.5.8 4.3.4.4.7 4.4.2.1 4.4.2.2 4.4.2.4

SR 2.10 SR 2.11 SR 2.12 SR 2.8 SR 2.9

0988 1405

A.12.4.1 A.12.4.2 A.12.4.3 A.12.4.4 A.12.7.1

AU-12(1) AU-8(1)(a) CM-6(a)

PR.PT-1

Req-10.4.1

10.6.1

SRG-APP-000116-CTR-000235
Updated: about 1 year ago

- name: Gather the package facts
  package_facts:
    manager: auto
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.3.7
  - NIST-800-53-AU-12(1)  - NIST-800-53-AU-8(1)(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-10.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-10.6.1
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_chronyd_or_ntpd_enabled

- name: Gather the package facts
  ansible.builtin.package_facts:
    manager: auto
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.3.7
  - NIST-800-53-AU-12(1)
  - NIST-800-53-AU-8(1)(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-10.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-10.6.1
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_chronyd_or_ntpd_enabled

- name: Start ntpd service if ntp installed
  systemd:
    name: ntpd
    enabled: 'yes'
    state: started
    masked: 'no'
  when:
  - ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  - '''ntp'' in ansible_facts.packages'
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.3.7
  - NIST-800-53-AU-12(1)
  - NIST-800-53-AU-8(1)(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-10.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-10.6.1
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_chronyd_or_ntpd_enabled

- name: Start chronyd service if chrony or chronyd installed
  systemd:
    name: chronyd
    enabled: 'yes'
    state: started
    masked: 'no'
  when:
  - ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  - ('chrony' in ansible_facts.packages) or ('chronyd' in ansible_facts.packages)
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.3.7
  - NIST-800-53-AU-12(1)
  - NIST-800-53-AU-8(1)(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-10.4.1
  - PCI-DSSv4-10.6.1
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_chronyd_or_ntpd_enabled

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

if rpm --quiet -q "chrony" ; then
    if ! /usr/sbin/pidof ntpd ; then
        /usr/bin/systemctl enable "chronyd"        /usr/bin/systemctl start "chronyd"
        # The service may not be running because it has been started and failed,
        # so let's reset the state so OVAL checks pass.
        # Service should be 'inactive', not 'failed' after reboot though.
        if /usr/bin/systemctl --failed | grep -q "chronyd"; then
            /usr/bin/systemctl reset-failed "chronyd"
        fi
    fi
elif rpm --quiet -q "ntp" ; then
    /usr/bin/systemctl enable "ntpd"
    /usr/bin/systemctl start "ntpd"
    # The service may not be running because it has been started and failed,
    # so let's reset the state so OVAL checks pass.
    # Service should be 'inactive', not 'failed' after reboot though.
    if /usr/bin/systemctl --failed | grep -q "ntpd"; then
        /usr/bin/systemctl reset-failed "ntpd"
    fi
else
    if ! rpm -q --quiet "chrony" ; then
        yum install -y "chrony"
    fi
    /usr/bin/systemctl enable "chronyd"
    /usr/bin/systemctl start "chronyd"
    # The service may not be running because it has been started and failed,
    # so let's reset the state so OVAL checks pass.
    # Service should be 'inactive', not 'failed' after reboot though.
    if /usr/bin/systemctl --failed | grep -q "chronyd"; then
        /usr/bin/systemctl reset-failed "chronyd"
    fi
fi

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

Enable the NTP Daemon

Description

Rationale

Remediation - Ansible

Remediation - Shell Script