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CIS Ubuntu 20.04 Level 1 Workstation Benchmark

Rules and Groups employed by this XCCDF Profile

  • System Settings

    Contains rules that check correct system settings.
    Group
  • Installing and Maintaining Software

    The following sections contain information on security-relevant choices during the initial operating system installation process and the setup of software updates.
    Group
  • System and Software Integrity

    System and software integrity can be gained by installing antivirus, increasing system encryption strength with FIPS, verifying installed software, enabling SELinux, installing an Intrusion Prevent...
    Group
  • Package "prelink" Must not be Installed

    The prelink package can be removed with the following command:
     $ apt-get remove prelink
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Software Integrity Checking

    Both the AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment) software and the RPM package management system provide mechanisms for verifying the integrity of installed software. AIDE uses snapshots of ...
    Group
  • Verify Integrity with AIDE

    AIDE conducts integrity checks by comparing information about files with previously-gathered information. Ideally, the AIDE database is created immediately after initial system configuration, and t...
    Group
  • Install AIDE

    The aide package can be installed with the following command:
    $ apt-get install aide
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Build and Test AIDE Database

    Run the following command to generate a new database: <pre>$ sudo aideinit</pre> By default, the database will be written to the file <code>/var/lib/aide/aide.db.new</code>. Storing the databas...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure Periodic Execution of AIDE

    At a minimum, AIDE should be configured to run a weekly scan. To implement a daily execution of AIDE at 4:05am using cron, add the following line to <code>/etc/crontab</code>: <pre>05 4 * * * root ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disk Partitioning

    To ensure separation and protection of data, there are top-level system directories which should be placed on their own physical partition or logical volume. The installer's default partitioning sc...
    Group
  • Ensure /tmp Located On Separate Partition

    The /tmp directory is a world-writable directory used for temporary file storage. Ensure it has its own partition or logical volume at installation time, or migrate it using LVM.
    Rule Low Severity
  • GNOME Desktop Environment

    GNOME is a graphical desktop environment bundled with many Linux distributions that allow users to easily interact with the operating system graphically rather than textually. The GNOME Graphical D...
    Group
  • Configure GNOME3 DConf User Profile

    By default, DConf provides a standard user profile. This profile contains a list of DConf configuration databases. The user profile and database always take the highest priority. As such the DConf ...
    Rule High Severity
  • Configure GNOME Login Screen

    In the default GNOME desktop, the login is displayed after system boot and can display user accounts, allow users to reboot the system, and allow users to login automatically and/or with a guest ac...
    Group
  • Disable the GNOME3 Login User List

    In the default graphical environment, users logging directly into the system are greeted with a login screen that displays all known users. This functionality should be disabled by setting <code>di...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Sudo

    <code>Sudo</code>, which stands for "su 'do'", provides the ability to delegate authority to certain users, groups of users, or system administrators. When configured for system users and/or groups...
    Group
  • Install sudo Package

    The sudo package can be installed with the following command:
    $ apt-get install sudo
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure Only Users Logged In To Real tty Can Execute Sudo - sudo use_pty

    The sudo <code>use_pty</code> tag, when specified, will only execute sudo commands from users logged in to a real tty. This should be enabled by making sure that the <code>use_pty</code> tag exists...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure Sudo Logfile Exists - sudo logfile

    A custom log sudo file can be configured with the 'logfile' tag. This rule configures a sudo custom logfile at the default location suggested by CIS, which uses /var/log/sudo.log.
    Rule Low Severity
  • Account and Access Control

    In traditional Unix security, if an attacker gains shell access to a certain login account, they can perform any action or access any file to which that account has access. Therefore, making it mor...
    Group
  • Warning Banners for System Accesses

    Each system should expose as little information about itself as possible. <br> <br> System banners, which are typically displayed just before a login prompt, give out information about the s...
    Group
  • Modify the System Login Banner

    To configure the system login banner edit <code>/etc/issue</code>. Replace the default text with a message compliant with the local site policy or a legal disclaimer. The DoD required text is ei...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Modify the System Login Banner for Remote Connections

    To configure the system login banner edit <code>/etc/issue.net</code>. Replace the default text with a message compliant with the local site policy or a legal disclaimer. The DoD required text is ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Modify the System Message of the Day Banner

    To configure the system message banner edit <code>/etc/motd</code>. Replace the default text with a message compliant with the local site policy or a legal disclaimer. The DoD required text is eit...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Ownership of System Login Banner

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/issue, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/issue
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Ownership of System Login Banner for Remote Connections

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/issue.net, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/issue.net
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify Group Ownership of Message of the Day Banner

    To properly set the group owner of /etc/motd, run the command:
    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/motd
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify ownership of System Login Banner

    To properly set the owner of /etc/issue, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/issue 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify ownership of System Login Banner for Remote Connections

    To properly set the owner of /etc/issue.net, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/issue.net 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify ownership of Message of the Day Banner

    To properly set the owner of /etc/motd, run the command:
    $ sudo chown root /etc/motd 
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify permissions on System Login Banner

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/issue, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/issue
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify permissions on System Login Banner for Remote Connections

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/issue.net, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/issue.net
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Verify permissions on Message of the Day Banner

    To properly set the permissions of /etc/motd, run the command:
    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/motd
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Implement a GUI Warning Banner

    In the default graphical environment, users logging directly into the system are greeted with a login screen provided by the GNOME Display Manager (GDM). The warning banner should be displayed in t...
    Group
  • Enable GNOME3 Login Warning Banner

    In the default graphical environment, displaying a login warning banner in the GNOME Display Manager's login screen can be enabled on the login screen by setting <code>banner-message-enable</code> ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set the GNOME3 Login Warning Banner Text

    In the default graphical environment, configuring the login warning banner text in the GNOME Display Manager's login screen can be configured on the login screen by setting <code>banner-message-tex...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Protect Accounts by Configuring PAM

    PAM, or Pluggable Authentication Modules, is a system which implements modular authentication for Linux programs. PAM provides a flexible and configurable architecture for authentication, and it sh...
    Group
  • Install pam_pwquality Package

    The libpam-pwquality package can be installed with the following command:
    $ apt-get install libpam-pwquality
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set Lockouts for Failed Password Attempts

    The <code>pam_faillock</code> PAM module provides the capability to lock out user accounts after a number of failed login attempts. Its documentation is available in <code>/usr/share/doc/pam-VERSIO...
    Group
  • Limit Password Reuse

    Do not allow users to reuse recent passwords. This can be accomplished by using the <code>remember</code> option for the <code>pam_pwhistory</code> PAM modules. <br> <br> In the file <code...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set Deny For Failed Password Attempts

    The Ubuntu 20.04 operating system must lock an account after - at most - <xccdf-1.2:sub xmlns:xccdf-1.2="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2" idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_var_password...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set Password Quality Requirements

    The default <code>pam_pwquality</code> PAM module provides strength checking for passwords. It performs a number of checks, such as making sure passwords are not similar to dictionary words, are of...
    Group
  • Set Password Quality Requirements with pam_pwquality

    The <code>pam_pwquality</code> PAM module can be configured to meet requirements for a variety of policies. <br> <br> For example, to configure <code>pam_pwquality</code> to require at lea...
    Group
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Minimum Digit Characters

    The pam_pwquality module's <code>dcredit</code> parameter controls requirements for usage of digits in a password. When set to a negative number, any password will be required to contain that many ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Minimum Lowercase Characters

    The pam_pwquality module's <code>lcredit</code> parameter controls requirements for usage of lowercase letters in a password. When set to a negative number, any password will be required to contain...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Minimum Different Categories

    The pam_pwquality module's <code>minclass</code> parameter controls requirements for usage of different character classes, or types, of character that must exist in a password before it is consider...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Minimum Length

    The pam_pwquality module's <code>minlen</code> parameter controls requirements for minimum characters required in a password. Add <code>minlen=<xccdf-1.2:sub idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_val...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Minimum Special Characters

    The pam_pwquality module's <code>ocredit=</code> parameter controls requirements for usage of special (or "other") characters in a password. When set to a negative number, any password will be requ...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Authentication Retry Prompts Permitted Per-Session

    To configure the number of retry prompts that are permitted per-session: Edit the <code>pam_pwquality.so</code> statement in <code>/etc/pam.d/common-password</code> to show <code>retry=<xccdf-1...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure PAM Enforces Password Requirements - Minimum Uppercase Characters

    The pam_pwquality module's <code>ucredit=</code> parameter controls requirements for usage of uppercase letters in a password. When set to a negative number, any password will be required to contai...
    Rule Medium Severity

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