Disable Kernel Parameter for IPv6 Forwarding

An XCCDF Rule

Description

To set the runtime status of the net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding kernel parameter, run the following command:

$ sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=0

To make sure that the setting is persistent, add the following line to a file in the directory /etc/sysctl.d:

net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding = 0

Rationale

IP forwarding permits the kernel to forward packets from one network interface to another. The ability to forward packets between two networks is only appropriate for systems acting as routers.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding
Severity: Medium
References: 1 11 12 13 14 15 16 2 3 7 8 9

APO13.01 BAI04.04 BAI10.01 BAI10.02 BAI10.03 BAI10.05 DSS01.03 DSS03.05 DSS05.02 DSS05.05 DSS05.07 DSS06.06

CCI-000366

4.3.3.5.1 4.3.3.5.2 4.3.3.5.3 4.3.3.5.4 4.3.3.5.5 4.3.3.5.6 4.3.3.5.7 4.3.3.5.8 4.3.3.6.1 4.3.3.6.2 4.3.3.6.3 4.3.3.6.4 4.3.3.6.5 4.3.3.6.6 4.3.3.6.7 4.3.3.6.8 4.3.3.6.9 4.3.3.7.1 4.3.3.7.2 4.3.3.7.3 4.3.3.7.4 4.3.4.3.2 4.3.4.3.3

SR 1.1 SR 1.10 SR 1.11 SR 1.12 SR 1.13 SR 1.2 SR 1.3 SR 1.4 SR 1.5 SR 1.6 SR 1.7 SR 1.8 SR 1.9 SR 2.1 SR 2.2 SR 2.3 SR 2.4 SR 2.5 SR 2.6 SR 2.7 SR 6.2 SR 7.1 SR 7.2 SR 7.6

A.12.1.2 A.12.1.3 A.12.5.1 A.12.6.2 A.14.2.2 A.14.2.3 A.14.2.4 A.17.2.1 A.9.1.2

CM-6(a) CM-6(b) CM-6.1(iv) CM-7(a) CM-7(b)

DE.CM-1 PR.DS-4 PR.IP-1 PR.PT-3

SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227
Updated: about 1 year ago

- name: List /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf files
  find:
    paths:
    - /etc/sysctl.d/
    - /run/sysctl.d/
    - /usr/local/lib/sysctl.d/    - /usr/lib/sysctl.d/
    contains: ^[\s]*net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding.*$
    patterns: '*.conf'
    file_type: any
  register: find_sysctl_d
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(b)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6.1(iv)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - medium_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - reboot_required
  - sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding

- name: Comment out any occurrences of net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding from config files
  replace:
    path: '{{ item.path }}'
    regexp: ^[\s]*net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding
    replace: '#net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding'
  loop: '{{ find_sysctl_d.files }}'
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(b)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6.1(iv)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - medium_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - reboot_required
  - sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding
- name: XCCDF Value sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding_value # promote to variable
  set_fact:
    sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding_value: !!str <xccdf-1.2:sub xmlns:xccdf-1.2="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2" idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding_value" use="legacy"/>
  tags:
    - always

- name: Ensure sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding is set
  sysctl:
    name: net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding
    value: '{{ sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding_value }}'
    sysctl_file: /etc/sysctl.conf
    state: present
    reload: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(b)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6.1(iv)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - medium_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - reboot_required
  - sysctl_net_ipv6_conf_all_forwarding

Disable Kernel Parameter for IPv6 Forwarding

Description

Rationale

Remediation - Ansible