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CIS Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Benchmark for Level 2 - Workstation

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 s...
    Group
  • System and Software Integrity

    System and software integrity can be gained by installing antivirus, increasing system encryption strength with FIPS, verifying installed software,...
    Group
  • Software Integrity Checking

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

    AIDE conducts integrity checks by comparing information about files with previously-gathered information. Ideally, the AIDE database is created imm...
    Group
  • Install AIDE

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

    Run the following command to generate a new database: <pre>$ sudo /usr/sbin/aide --init</pre> By default, the database will be written to the fil...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Configure AIDE to Verify the Audit Tools

    The operating system file integrity tool must be configured to protect the integrity of the audit tools.
    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 t...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • System Cryptographic Policies

    Linux has the capability to centrally configure cryptographic polices. The command <code>update-crypto-policies</code> is used to set the policy ap...
    Group
  • Configure System Cryptography Policy

    To configure the system cryptography policy to use ciphers only from the <code><xccdf-1.2:sub idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_var_system_...
    Rule High Severity
  • Configure SSH to use System Crypto Policy

    Crypto Policies provide a centralized control over crypto algorithms usage of many packages. SSH is supported by crypto policy, but the SSH configu...
    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 logic...
    Group
  • Ensure /dev/shm is configured

    The <code>/dev/shm</code> is a traditional shared memory concept. One program will create a memory portion, which other processes (if permitted) ca...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure /home Located On Separate Partition

    If user home directories will be stored locally, create a separate partition for <code>/home</code> at installation time (or migrate it later using...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure /tmp Located On Separate Partition

    The <code>/tmp</code> directory is a world-writable directory used for temporary file storage. Ensure it has its own partition or logical volume at...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure /var Located On Separate Partition

    The <code>/var</code> directory is used by daemons and other system services to store frequently-changing data. Ensure that <code>/var</code> has i...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure /var/log Located On Separate Partition

    System logs are stored in the <code>/var/log</code> directory. Ensure that <code>/var/log</code> has its own partition or logical volume at instal...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure /var/log/audit Located On Separate Partition

    Audit logs are stored in the <code>/var/log/audit</code> directory. Ensure that <code>/var/log/audit</code> has its own partition or logical volum...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure /var/tmp Located On Separate Partition

    The <code>/var/tmp</code> directory is a world-writable directory used for temporary file storage. Ensure it has its own partition or logical volum...
    Rule Medium 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 graphi...
    Group
  • Make sure that the dconf databases are up-to-date with regards to respective keyfiles

    By default, DConf uses a binary database as a data backend. The system-level database is compiled from keyfiles in the /etc/dconf/db/ directory by ...
    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 u...
    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 fu...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable XDMCP in GDM

    XDMCP is an unencrypted protocol, and therefore, presents a security risk, see e.g. <a href="https://help.gnome.org/admin/gdm/stable/security.html....
    Rule High Severity
  • GNOME Media Settings

    GNOME media settings that apply to the graphical interface.
    Group
  • Disable GNOME3 Automounting

    The system's default desktop environment, GNOME3, will mount devices and removable media (such as DVDs, CDs and USB flash drives) whenever they are...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable GNOME3 Automount Opening

    The system's default desktop environment, GNOME3, will mount devices and removable media (such as DVDs, CDs and USB flash drives) whenever they are...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Disable GNOME3 Automount running

    The system's default desktop environment, GNOME3, will mount devices and removable media (such as DVDs, CDs and USB flash drives) whenever they are...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Configure GNOME Screen Locking

    In the default GNOME3 desktop, the screen can be locked by selecting the user name in the far right corner of the main panel and selecting <b>Lock<...
    Group
  • Set GNOME3 Screensaver Inactivity Timeout

    The idle time-out value for inactivity in the GNOME3 desktop is configured via the <code>idle-delay</code> setting must be set under an appropriate...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Set GNOME3 Screensaver Lock Delay After Activation Period

    To activate the locking delay of the screensaver in the GNOME3 desktop when the screensaver is activated, add or set <code>lock-delay</code> to <co...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure Users Cannot Change GNOME3 Screensaver Settings

    If not already configured, ensure that users cannot change GNOME3 screensaver lock settings by adding <code>/org/gnome/desktop/screensaver/lock-del...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Ensure Users Cannot Change GNOME3 Session Idle Settings

    If not already configured, ensure that users cannot change GNOME3 session idle settings by adding <code>/org/gnome/desktop/session/idle-delay</code...
    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 administrato...
    Group
  • Install sudo Package

    The sudo package can be installed with the following command:
    $ sudo dnf 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 ma...
    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 CI...
    Rule Low Severity
  • Ensure Users Re-Authenticate for Privilege Escalation - sudo

    The sudo <code>NOPASSWD</code> and <code>!authenticate</code> option, when specified, allows a user to execute commands using sudo without having t...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Require Re-Authentication When Using the sudo Command

    The sudo <code>timestamp_timeout</code> tag sets the amount of time sudo password prompt waits. The default <code>timestamp_timeout</code> value is...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • Updating Software

    The <code>dnf</code> command line tool is used to install and update software packages. The system also provides a graphical software update tool i...
    Group
  • Ensure gpgcheck Enabled In Main dnf Configuration

    The <code>gpgcheck</code> option controls whether RPM packages' signatures are always checked prior to installation. To configure dnf to check pack...
    Rule High 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...
    Group
  • Enable authselect

    Configure user authentication setup to use the <code>authselect</code> tool. If authselect profile is selected, the rule will enable the <xccdf-1.2...
    Rule Medium Severity
  • 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 logi...
    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...
    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...
    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...
    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

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