Disable debug-shell SystemD Service

An XCCDF Rule

Description

SystemD's debug-shell service is intended to diagnose SystemD related boot issues with various systemctl commands. Once enabled and following a system reboot, the root shell will be available on tty9 which is access by pressing CTRL-ALT-F9. The debug-shell service should only be used for SystemD related issues and should otherwise be disabled.

By default, the debug-shell SystemD service is already disabled. The debug-shell service can be disabled with the following command:

$ sudo systemctl mask --now debug-shell.service

Rationale

This prevents attackers with physical access from trivially bypassing security on the machine through valid troubleshooting configurations and gaining root access when the system is rebooted.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_service_debug-shell_disabled
Severity: Medium
References: 3.4.5

CCI-000366

164.308(a)(1)(ii)(B) 164.308(a)(7)(i) 164.308(a)(7)(ii)(A) 164.310(a)(1) 164.310(a)(2)(i) 164.310(a)(2)(ii) 164.310(a)(2)(iii) 164.310(b) 164.310(c) 164.310(d)(1) 164.310(d)(2)(iii)

CM-6

FIA_UAU.1

SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125 SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

CCE-91421-8
Updated: about 1 year ago

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

SYSTEMCTL_EXEC='/usr/bin/systemctl'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" stop 'debug-shell.service'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" disable 'debug-shell.service'"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" mask 'debug-shell.service'
# Disable socket activation if we have a unit file for it
if "$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" -q list-unit-files debug-shell.socket; then
    "$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" stop 'debug-shell.socket'
    "$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" mask 'debug-shell.socket'
fi
# 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.
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" reset-failed 'debug-shell.service' || true

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


[customizations.services]
disabled = ["debug-shell"]

include disable_debug-shell

class disable_debug-shell {
  service {'debug-shell':
    enable => false,
    ensure => 'stopped',  }
}

- name: Block Disable service debug-shell
  block:

  - name: Disable service debug-shell
    block:
    - name: Disable service debug-shell
      systemd:
        name: debug-shell.service
        enabled: 'no'
        state: stopped
        masked: 'yes'
    rescue:

    - name: Intentionally ignored previous 'Disable service debug-shell' failure,
        service was already disabled
      meta: noop
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - CCE-91421-8
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.5
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_debug-shell_disabled

- name: Unit Socket Exists - debug-shell.socket
  command: systemctl -q list-unit-files debug-shell.socket
  register: socket_file_exists
  changed_when: false
  failed_when: socket_file_exists.rc not in [0, 1]
  check_mode: false
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - CCE-91421-8
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.5
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_debug-shell_disabled

- name: Disable socket debug-shell
  systemd:
    name: debug-shell.socket
    enabled: 'no'
    state: stopped
    masked: 'yes'
  when:
  - ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  - socket_file_exists.stdout_lines is search("debug-shell.socket",multiline=True)
  tags:
  - CCE-91421-8
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.5
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_debug-shell_disabled

Disable debug-shell SystemD Service

Description

Rationale

Remediation - Shell Script

Remediation - OS Build Blueprint

Remediation - Puppet

Remediation - Ansible