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.
ISA-62443-2-1-2009, Security for Industrial Automation and Control Systems Part 2-1: Establishing an Industrial Automation and Control Systems Security Program
# 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 /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.d/net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies.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="$sysctl_net_ipv4_tcp_syncookies_value"
#
# If net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies present in /etc/sysctl.conf, change value to appropriate value
# else, add "net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = value" to /etc/sysctl.conf
#
sed -i "/^$SYSCONFIG_VAR/d" /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'\\ "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"
fi
cce="CCE-83179-2"
printf '# Per %s: Set %s in %s\n' "${cce}" "${formatted_output}" "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}" >> "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"
printf '%s\n' "$formatted_output" >> "${SYSCONFIG_FILE}"
fi
else
>&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi