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PCI-DSS v4.0 Control Baseline for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Rules and Groups employed by this XCCDF Profile

  • Verify Permissions on Important Files and Directories

    Permissions for many files on a system must be set restrictively to ensure sensitive information is properly protected. This section discusses impo...
    Group
  • Verify that All World-Writable Directories Have Sticky Bits Set

    When the so-called 'sticky bit' is set on a directory, only the owner of a given file may remove that file from the directory. Without the sticky b...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure No World-Writable Files Exist

    It is generally a good idea to remove global (other) write access to a file when it is discovered. However, check with documentation for specific a...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure All Files Are Owned by a Group

    If any file is not group-owned by a group present in /etc/group, the cause of the lack of group-ownership must be investigated. Following this, tho...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure All Files Are Owned by a User

    If any files are not owned by a user, then the cause of their lack of ownership should be investigated. Following this, the files should be deleted...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on Files with Local Account Information and Credentials

    The default restrictive permissions for files which act as important security databases such as <code>passwd</code>, <code>shadow</code>, <code>gro...
    Group
  • Verify Group Who Owns Backup group File

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/group-, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/group-
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Who Owns Backup passwd File

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/passwd-, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/passwd-
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify User Who Owns Backup shadow File

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/shadow-, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/shadow-
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Who Owns group File

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/group, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/group
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Who Owns passwd File

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/passwd, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/passwd
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Who Owns shadow File

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/shadow, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/shadow
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify User Who Owns Backup group File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/group-, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/group- 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify User Who Owns Backup passwd File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/passwd-, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/passwd- 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Who Owns Backup shadow File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/shadow-, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/shadow- 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify User Who Owns group File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/group, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/group 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify User Who Owns passwd File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/passwd, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/passwd 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify User Who Owns shadow File

    To properly set the owner of /etc/shadow, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/shadow 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on Backup group File

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/group-, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/group-
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on Backup passwd File

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/passwd-, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/passwd-
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on Backup shadow File

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/shadow-, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0000 /etc/shadow-
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on group File

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/group, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/group
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on passwd File

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/passwd, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/passwd
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Permissions on shadow File

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/shadow, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0000 /etc/shadow
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Restrict Dynamic Mounting and Unmounting of Filesystems

    Linux includes a number of facilities for the automated addition and removal of filesystems on a running system. These facilities may be necessary...
    Group
  • Disable Modprobe Loading of USB Storage Driver

    To prevent USB storage devices from being used, configure the kernel module loading system to prevent automatic loading of the USB storage driver. ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Restrict Programs from Dangerous Execution Patterns

    The recommendations in this section are designed to ensure that the system's features to protect against potentially dangerous program execution ar...
    Group
  • Disable Core Dumps

    A core dump file is the memory image of an executable program when it was terminated by the operating system due to errant behavior. In most cases,...
    Group
  • Disable core dump backtraces

    The <code>ProcessSizeMax</code> option in <code>[Coredump]</code> section of <code>/etc/systemd/coredump.conf</code> specifies the maximum size in ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable storing core dump

    The <code>Storage</code> option in <code>[Coredump]</code> sectionof <code>/etc/systemd/coredump.conf</code> can be set to <code>none</code> to dis...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable Core Dumps for All Users

    To disable core dumps for all users, add the following line to <code>/etc/security/limits.conf</code>, or to a file within the <code>/etc/security/...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable Core Dumps for SUID programs

    To set the runtime status of the <code>fs.suid_dumpable</code> kernel parameter, run the following command: <pre>$ sudo sysctl -w fs.suid_dumpable=...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable ExecShield

    ExecShield describes kernel features that provide protection against exploitation of memory corruption errors such as buffer overflows. These featu...
    Group
  • Enable Randomized Layout of Virtual Address Space

    To set the runtime status of the <code>kernel.randomize_va_space</code> kernel parameter, run the following command: <pre>$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.r...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable Execute Disable (XD) or No Execute (NX) Support on x86 Systems

    Recent processors in the x86 family support the ability to prevent code execution on a per memory page basis. Generically and on AMD processors, th...
    Group
  • Enable NX or XD Support in the BIOS

    Reboot the system and enter the BIOS or Setup configuration menu. Navigate the BIOS configuration menu and make sure that the option is enabled. Th...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Install PAE Kernel on Supported 32-bit x86 Systems

    Systems that are using the 64-bit x86 kernel package do not need to install the kernel-PAE package because the 64-bit x86 kernel already includes t...
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • SELinux

    SELinux is a feature of the Linux kernel which can be used to guard against misconfigured or compromised programs. SELinux enforces the idea that p...
    Group
  • Install libselinux Package

    The libselinux package can be installed with the following command:
    $ sudo yum install libselinux
    Rule High Severity
  • Ensure SELinux Not Disabled in /etc/default/grub

    SELinux can be disabled at boot time by an argument in <code>/etc/default/grub</code>. Remove any instances of <code>selinux=0</code> from the kern...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure No Daemons are Unconfined by SELinux

    Daemons for which the SELinux policy does not contain rules will inherit the context of the parent process. Because daemons are launched during sta...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure SELinux Policy

    The SELinux <code>targeted</code> policy is appropriate for general-purpose desktops and servers, as well as systems in many other roles. To config...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure SELinux State is Enforcing

    The SELinux state should be set to <code><xccdf-1.2:sub idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_var_selinux_state" use="legacy"></xccdf-1.2:sub><...
    Rule High Severity
  • Services

    The best protection against vulnerable software is running less software. This section describes how to review the software which Red Hat Enterpris...
    Group
  • Avahi Server

    The Avahi daemon implements the DNS Service Discovery and Multicast DNS protocols, which provide service and host discovery on a network. It allows...
    Group
  • Disable Avahi Server if Possible

    Because the Avahi daemon service keeps an open network port, it is subject to network attacks. Disabling it can reduce the system's vulnerability t...
    Group
  • Disable Avahi Server Software

    The avahi-daemon service can be disabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl mask --now avahi-daemon.service
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Cron and At Daemons

    The cron and at services are used to allow commands to be executed at a later time. The cron service is required by almost all systems to perform n...
    Group
  • Verify Group Who Owns cron.d

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/cron.d, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/cron.d
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Who Owns cron.daily

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/cron.daily, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/cron.daily
    Rule Medium Severity

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