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Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Essential Eight

Rules and Groups employed by this XCCDF Profile

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Application Whitelisting Daemon

    Fapolicyd (File Access Policy Daemon) implements application whitelisting to decide file access rights. Applications that are known via a reputatio...
    Group
  • Install fapolicyd Package

    The fapolicyd package can be installed with the following command:
    $ sudo dnf install fapolicyd
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Enable the File Access Policy Service

    The File Access Policy service should be enabled. The <code>fapolicyd</code> service can be enabled with the following command: <pre>$ sudo system...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Obsolete Services

    This section discusses a number of network-visible services which have historically caused problems for system security, and for which disabling or...
    Group
  • NIS

    The Network Information Service (NIS), also known as 'Yellow Pages' (YP), and its successor NIS+ have been made obsolete by Kerberos, LDAP, and oth...
    Group
  • Remove NIS Client

    The Network Information Service (NIS), formerly known as Yellow Pages, is a client-server directory service protocol used to distribute system conf...
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Rlogin, Rsh, and Rexec

    The Berkeley r-commands are legacy services which allow cleartext remote access and have an insecure trust model.
    Group
  • Uninstall rsh-server Package

    The rsh-server package can be removed with the following command:
    $ sudo dnf erase rsh-server
    Rule High Severity
  • Uninstall rsh Package

    The rsh package contains the client commands for the rsh services
    Rule Unknown 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 dnf 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 dnf 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
  • Proxy Server

    A proxy server is a very desirable target for a potential adversary because much (or all) sensitive data for a given infrastructure may flow throug...
    Group
  • Disable Squid if Possible

    If Squid was installed and activated, but the system does not need to act as a proxy server, then it should be disabled and removed.
    Group
  • Uninstall squid Package

    The squid package can be removed with the following command:
     $ sudo dnf erase squid
    Rule Unknown Severity
  • Disable Squid

    The squid service can be disabled with the following command:
    $ sudo systemctl mask --now squid.service
    Rule Unknown 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
  • Uninstall quagga Package

    The quagga package can be removed with the following command:
     $ sudo dnf erase quagga
    Rule Low 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
  • 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
  • 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 SSH Support for .rhosts Files

    SSH can emulate the behavior of the obsolete rsh command in allowing users to enable insecure access to their accounts via <code>.rhosts</code> fil...
    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
  • Disable SSH Support for User Known Hosts

    SSH can allow system users to connect to systems if a cache of the remote systems public keys is available. This should be disabled. <br><br> To e...
    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 Print Last Log

    Ensure that SSH will display the date and time of the last successful account logon. <br> The default SSH configuration enables print of the date a...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set LogLevel to INFO

    The INFO parameter specifices that record login and logout activity will be logged. <br> The default SSH configuration sets the log level to INFO. ...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Distribute the SSH Server configuration to multiple files in a config directory.

    Make sure to have the <code>Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf</code> line in the <code>/etc/ssh/sshd_config</code> file. Ideally, don't have an...
    Rule Medium Severity

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