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NIST National Checklist Program Security Guide

Rules and Groups employed by this XCCDF Profile

  • Disable rexec Service

    The <code>rexec</code> service, which is available with the <code>rsh-server</code> package and runs as a service through xinetd or separately as a...
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable rlogin Service

    The <code>rlogin</code> service, which is available with the <code>rsh-server</code> package and runs as a service through xinetd or separately as ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable rsh Service

    The <code>rsh</code> service, which is available with the <code>rsh-server</code> package and runs as a service through xinetd or separately as a s...
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove Rsh Trust Files

    The files <code>/etc/hosts.equiv</code> and <code>~/.rhosts</code> (in each user's home directory) list remote hosts and users that are trusted by ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Chat/Messaging Services

    The talk software makes it possible for users to send and receive messages across systems through a terminal session.
    Group
  • Uninstall talk-server Package

    The talk-server package can be removed with the following command:
     $ sudo yum erase talk-server
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Uninstall talk Package

    The <code>talk</code> package contains the client program for the Internet talk protocol, which allows the user to chat with other users on differe...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Telnet

    The telnet protocol does not provide confidentiality or integrity for information transmitted on the network. This includes authentication informat...
    Group
  • Uninstall telnet-server Package

    The telnet-server package can be removed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum erase telnet-server
    Rule High Severity
  • Remove telnet Clients

    The telnet client allows users to start connections to other systems via the telnet protocol.
    Rule Low Severity
  • Disable telnet Service

    Make sure that the activation of the <code>telnet</code> service on system boot is disabled. The <code>telnet</code> socket can be disabled with t...
    Rule High Severity
  • Network Routing

    A router is a very desirable target for a potential adversary because they fulfill a variety of infrastructure networking roles such as access to ...
    Group
  • Disable Quagga if Possible

    If Quagga was installed and activated, but the system does not need to act as a router, then it should be disabled and removed.
    Group
  • Disable Quagga Service

    The zebra service can be disabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl mask --now zebra.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • SSH Server

    The SSH protocol is recommended for remote login and remote file transfer. SSH provides confidentiality and integrity for data exchanged between tw...
    Group
  • Enable the OpenSSH Service

    The SSH server service, sshd, is commonly needed. The <code>sshd</code> service can be enabled with the following command: <pre>$ sudo systemctl e...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on SSH Server Private *_key Key Files

    SSH server private keys - files that match the <code>/etc/ssh/*_key</code> glob, have to have restricted permissions. If those files are owned by t...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on SSH Server Public *.pub Key Files

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/ssh/*.pub, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/ssh/*.pub
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure OpenSSH Server if Necessary

    If the system needs to act as an SSH server, then certain changes should be made to the OpenSSH daemon configuration file <code>/etc/ssh/sshd_confi...
    Group
  • Set SSH Client Alive Count Max to zero

    The SSH server sends at most <code>ClientAliveCountMax</code> messages during a SSH session and waits for a response from the SSH client. The optio...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set SSH Client Alive Interval

    SSH allows administrators to set a network responsiveness timeout interval. After this interval has passed, the unresponsive client will be automat...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable Host-Based Authentication

    SSH's cryptographic host-based authentication is more secure than <code>.rhosts</code> authentication. However, it is not recommended that hosts un...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable SSH Server firewalld Firewall Exception

    If the SSH server is in use, inbound connections to SSH's port should be allowed to permit remote access through SSH. In more restrictive firewalld...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Allow Only SSH Protocol 2

    Only SSH protocol version 2 connections should be permitted. The default setting in <code>/etc/ssh/sshd_config</code> is correct, and can be verifi...
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable Compression Or Set Compression to delayed

    Compression is useful for slow network connections over long distances but can cause performance issues on local LANs. If use of compression is req...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable SSH Access via Empty Passwords

    Disallow SSH login with empty passwords. The default SSH configuration disables logins with empty passwords. The appropriate configuration is used ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Disable GSSAPI Authentication

    Unless needed, SSH should not permit extraneous or unnecessary authentication mechanisms like GSSAPI. <br> The default SSH configuration disallows ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable Kerberos Authentication

    Unless needed, SSH should not permit extraneous or unnecessary authentication mechanisms like Kerberos. <br> The default SSH configuration disallow...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable SSH Support for Rhosts RSA Authentication

    SSH can allow authentication through the obsolete rsh command through the use of the authenticating user's SSH keys. This should be disabled. <br><...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable SSH Root Login

    The root user should never be allowed to login to a system directly over a network. To disable root login via SSH, add or correct the following lin...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Do Not Allow SSH Environment Options

    Ensure that users are not able to override environment variables of the SSH daemon. <br> The default SSH configuration disables environment process...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable Use of Strict Mode Checking

    SSHs <code>StrictModes</code> option checks file and ownership permissions in the user's home directory <code>.ssh</code> folder before accepting l...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable SSH Warning Banner

    To enable the warning banner and ensure it is consistent across the system, add or correct the following line in <code>/etc/ssh/sshd_config</code...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable Encrypted X11 Forwarding

    By default, remote X11 connections are not encrypted when initiated by users. SSH has the capability to encrypt remote X11 connections when SSH's <...
    Rule High Severity
  • Use Only FIPS 140-2 Validated Ciphers

    Limit the ciphers to those algorithms which are FIPS-approved. Counter (CTR) mode is also preferred over cipher-block chaining (CBC) mode. The foll...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Use Only FIPS 140-2 Validated MACs

    Limit the MACs to those hash algorithms which are FIPS-approved. The following line in <code>/etc/ssh/sshd_config</code> demonstrates use of FIPS-a...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable Use of Privilege Separation

    When enabled, SSH will create an unprivileged child process that has the privilege of the authenticated user. To enable privilege separation in SSH...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • System Security Services Daemon

    The System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) is a system daemon that provides access to different identity and authentication providers such as Red H...
    Group
  • Enable Smartcards in SSSD

    SSSD should be configured to authenticate access to the system using smart cards. To enable smart cards in SSSD, set <code>pam_cert_auth</code> to ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure SSSD to Expire SSH Known Hosts

    SSSD should be configured to expire keys from known SSH hosts after <code><xccdf-1.2:sub idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_var_sssd_ssh_kno...
    Rule Medium Severity

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