Enable the NTP Daemon

An XCCDF Rule

Description

The ntpd service can be enabled with the following command:

$ sudo systemctl enable ntpd.service

Rationale

Enabling the ntpd service ensures that the ntpd service 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 NTP daemon offers all of the functionality of ntpdate, which is now deprecated.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_service_ntpd_enabled
Severity: Medium
References: 1 14 15 16 3 5 6

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

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

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

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

PR.PT-1

Req-10.4

10.6.1

2.2.1.4

CCE-91658-5
Updated: about 1 year ago


[customizations.services]
enabled = ["ntpd"]

- name: Gather the package facts
  package_facts:
    manager: auto
  tags:
  - CCE-91658-5
  - NIST-800-53-AU-8(1)(a)  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-10.4
  - PCI-DSSv4-10.6.1
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_ntpd_enabled

- name: Enable service ntpd
  block:

  - name: Gather the package facts
    package_facts:
      manager: auto

  - name: Enable service ntpd
    systemd:
      name: ntpd
      enabled: 'yes'
      state: started
      masked: 'no'
    when:
    - '"ntp" in ansible_facts.packages'
  when:
  - ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  - '"ntp" in ansible_facts.packages'
  tags:
  - CCE-91658-5
  - NIST-800-53-AU-8(1)(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - PCI-DSS-Req-10.4
  - PCI-DSSv4-10.6.1
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_ntpd_enabled

include enable_ntpd

class enable_ntpd {
  service {'ntpd':
    enable => true,
    ensure => 'running',  }
}

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if [ ! -f /.dockerenv ] && [ ! -f /run/.containerenv ] && { rpm --quiet -q ntp; }; then

SYSTEMCTL_EXEC='/usr/bin/systemctl'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" unmask 'ntpd.service'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" start 'ntpd.service'"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" enable 'ntpd.service'

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

Enable the NTP Daemon

Description

Rationale

Remediation - OS Build Blueprint

Remediation - Ansible

Remediation - Puppet

Remediation - Shell Script