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Remove the GDM Package Group

An XCCDF Rule

Description

By removing the gdm3 package, the system no longer has GNOME installed installed. If X Windows is not installed then the system cannot boot into graphical user mode. This prevents the system from being accidentally or maliciously booted into a graphical.target mode. To do so, run the following command: 

$ sudo apt remove gdm3

Rationale

Unnecessary service packages must not be installed to decrease the attack surface of the system. A graphical environment is unnecessary for certain types of systems including a virtualization hypervisor.

ID
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_package_gdm_removed
Severity
Medium
References
Updated



Remediation - Ansible

- name: Gather the package facts
  package_facts:
    manager: auto
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)

Remediation - Puppet

include remove_gdm3

class remove_gdm3 {
  package { 'gdm3':
    ensure => 'purged',
  }

Remediation - Shell Script

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if dpkg-query --show --showformat='${db:Status-Status}\n' 'gdm3' 2>/dev/null | grep -q installed; then

# CAUTION: This remediation script will remove gdm3
#	   from the system, and may remove any packages
#	   that depend on gdm3. Execute this