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XCCDF
APACHE 2.2 Server for UNIX Security Technical Implementation Guide
WA000-WWA028
The httpd.conf MinSpareServers directive must be set properly.
The httpd.conf MinSpareServers directive must be set properly.
An XCCDF Rule
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The httpd.conf MinSpareServers directive must be set properly.
Medium Severity
<VulnDiscussion>These requirements are set to mitigate the effects of several types of denial of service attacks. Although there is some latitude concerning the settings themselves, the requirements attempt to provide reasonable limits for the protection of the web server. If necessary, these limits can be adjusted to accommodate the operational requirement of a given system. From Apache.org: The MinSpareServers directive sets the desired minimum number of idle child server processes. An idle process is one which is not handling a request. If there are fewer than MinSpareServers idle, then the parent process creates new children at a maximum rate of 1 per second. Tuning of this parameter should only be necessary on very busy sites. Setting this parameter to a large number is almost always a bad idea.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility>Web Administrator</Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>