Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Security Guide

A Guide to Securing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Martin Prpič Tomáš Čapek Stephen Wadeley

Yoana Ruseva Miroslav Svoboda Robert Krátký
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

A Guide to Securing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Martin Prpič
Red Hat Engineering Co ntent Services
[email protected] m

To máš Čapek
Red Hat Engineering Co ntent Services
[email protected] m

Stephen Wadeley
Red Hat Engineering Co ntent Services
[email protected] m

Yo ana Ruseva
Red Hat Engineering Co ntent Services
[email protected] m

Miro slav Svo bo da

Red Hat Engineering Co ntent Services
msvo bo [email protected] m

Ro bert Krátký
Red Hat Engineering Co ntent Services
[email protected] m
Legal Notice

Copyright © 2013 Red Hat, Inc.

T his document is licensed by Red Hat under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
License. If you distribute this document, or a modified version of it, you must provide attribution to Red
Hat, Inc. and provide a link to the original. If the document is modified, all Red Hat trademarks must be
removed.

Red Hat, as the licensor of this document, waives the right to enforce, and agrees not to assert, Section
4d of CC-BY-SA to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Shadowman logo, JBoss, MetaMatrix, Fedora, the Infinity Logo,
and RHCE are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.

Linux ® is the registered trademark of Linus T orvalds in the United States and other countries.

Java ® is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

XFS ® is a trademark of Silicon Graphics International Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States
and/or other countries.

MySQL ® is a registered trademark of MySQL AB in the United States, the European Union and other
countries.

Node.js ® is an official trademark of Joyent. Red Hat Software Collections is not formally related to or
endorsed by the official Joyent Node.js open source or commercial project.

T he OpenStack ® Word Mark and OpenStack Logo are either registered trademarks/service marks or
trademarks/service marks of the OpenStack Foundation, in the United States and other countries and
are used with the OpenStack Foundation's permission. We are not affiliated with, endorsed or
sponsored by the OpenStack Foundation, or the OpenStack community.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Abstract
T his book assists users and administrators in learning the processes and practices of securing
workstations and servers against local and remote intrusion, exploitation, and malicious activity. Focused
on Red Hat Enterprise Linux but detailing concepts and techniques valid for all Linux systems, this guide
details the planning and the tools involved in creating a secured computing environment for the data
center, workplace, and home. With proper administrative knowledge, vigilance, and tools, systems
running Linux can be both fully functional and secured from most common intrusion and exploit methods.
 T able of Contents

Table of Contents

⁠C
. .hapter
. . . . . . 1.
. . Overview
. . . . . . . . . of
. . .Security
. . . . . . . .T.opics
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . .
⁠1.1. What is Computer Security? 3
⁠1.2. Security Controls 4
⁠1.3. Vulnerability Assessment 5
⁠1.4. Security T hreats 8
⁠1.5. Common Exploits and Attacks 11

⁠C
. .hapter
. . . . . . 2.
. . Security
........T. .ips
. . .for
. . .Installation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
..........
⁠2.1. Securing BIOS 15
⁠2.2. Partitioning the Disk 15
⁠2.3. Installing the Minimum Amount of Packages Required 16
⁠2.4. Post-installation Procedures 16
⁠2.5. Additional Resources 17

⁠C
. .hapter
. . . . . . 3.
. . Keeping
. . . . . . . . Your
. . . . .System
. . . . . . . Up-to-Date
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
..........
⁠3.1. Maintaining Installed Software 18
⁠3.2. Using the Red Hat Customer Portal 22
⁠3.3. Additional Resources 23

⁠C
. .hapter . . . . . . 4. . .Hardening
. . . . . . . . . Your
. . . . . System
. . . . . . . with
....T. .ools
. . . .and
. . . .Services
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
..........
⁠4 .1. Desktop Security 24
⁠4 .2. Controlling Root Access 31
⁠4 .3. Securing Services 37
⁠4 .4. Securing Network Access 52
⁠4 .5. Using Firewalls 57
⁠4 .6. Securing DNS T raffic with DNSSEC 80
⁠4 .7. Securing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) 89
⁠4 .8. Using OpenSSL 98
⁠4 .9. Encryption 103

⁠C
. .hapter . . . . . . 5.
. . System
. . . . . . . .Auditing
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
...........
⁠Use Cases 111
⁠5.1. Audit System Architecture 112
⁠5.2. Installing the audit Packages 113
⁠5.3. Configuring the audit Service 113
⁠5.4. Starting the audit Service 114
⁠5.5. Defining Audit Rules 115
⁠5.6. Understanding Audit Log Files 120
⁠5.7. Searching the Audit Log Files 124
⁠5.8. Creating Audit Reports 125
⁠5.9. Additional Resources 126

⁠C
. .hapter . . . . . . 6.
. . Compliance
. . . . . . . . . . . and
. . . . Vulnerability
. . . . . . . . . . . . Scanning
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
...........
⁠6.1. Security Compliance in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 128
⁠6.2. Defining Compliance Policy 128
⁠6.3. Using SCAP Workbench 136
⁠6.4. Using oscap 143
⁠6.5. Using OpenSCAP with Red Hat Satellite 149
⁠6.6. Practical Examples 149
⁠6.7. Additional Resources 150

⁠C
. .hapter
. . . . . . 7.
. . Federal
. . . . . . . .Standards
. . . . . . . . . .and
. . . .Regulations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
...........
⁠7.1. Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 152
⁠7.2. National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) 154
⁠7.3. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) 154
⁠7.4. Security T echnical Implementation Guide 154

1
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

.Encryption
. . . . . . . . . .Standards
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
...........
⁠A.1. Synchronous Encryption 155
⁠A.2. Public-key Encryption 155

.Audit
. . . . .System
. . . . . . .Reference
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
...........
⁠B.1. Audit Event Fields 159
⁠B.2. Audit Record T ypes 162

. . . . . . . . .History
Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
...........

2
 ⁠C hapter 1. Overview of Security T opics

Chapter 1. Overview of Security Topics

Due to the increased reliance on powerful, networked computers to help run businesses and keep track of
our personal information, entire industries have been formed around the practice of network and computer
security. Enterprises have solicited the knowledge and skills of security experts to properly audit systems
and tailor solutions to fit the operating requirements of their organization. Because most organizations are
increasingly dynamic in nature, their workers are accessing critical company IT resources locally and
remotely, hence the need for secure computing environments has become more pronounced.

Unfortunately, many organizations (as well as individual users) regard security as more of an afterthought,
a process that is overlooked in favor of increased power, productivity, convenience, ease of use, and
budgetary concerns. Proper security implementation is often enacted postmortem — after an unauthorized
intrusion has already occurred. T aking the correct measures prior to connecting a site to an untrusted
network, such as the Internet, is an effective means of thwarting many attempts at intrusion.

Note

T his document makes several references to files in the /lib directory. When using 64-bit systems,
some of the files mentioned may instead be located in /lib64 .

1.1. What is Computer Security?

Computer security is a general term that covers a wide area of computing and information processing.
Industries that depend on computer systems and networks to conduct daily business transactions and
access critical information regard their data as an important part of their overall assets. Several terms and
metrics have entered our daily business vocabulary, such as total cost of ownership (T CO), return on
investment (ROI), and quality of service (QoS). Using these metrics, industries can calculate aspects such
as data integrity and high-availability (HA) as part of their planning and process management costs. In
some industries, such as electronic commerce, the availability and trustworthiness of data can mean the
difference between success and failure.

1.1.1. Standardizing Security

Enterprises in every industry rely on regulations and rules that are set by standards-making bodies such
as the American Medical Association (AMA) or the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
T he same ideals hold true for information security. Many security consultants and vendors agree upon the
standard security model known as CIA, or Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. T his three-tiered model
is a generally accepted component to assessing risks of sensitive information and establishing security
policy. T he following describes the CIA model in further detail:

Confidentiality — Sensitive information must be available only to a set of pre-defined individuals.

Unauthorized transmission and usage of information should be restricted. For example, confidentiality
of information ensures that a customer's personal or financial information is not obtained by an
unauthorized individual for malicious purposes such as identity theft or credit fraud.

Integrity — Information should not be altered in ways that render it incomplete or incorrect.
Unauthorized users should be restricted from the ability to modify or destroy sensitive information.

Availability — Information should be accessible to authorized users any time that it is needed.
Availability is a warranty that information can be obtained with an agreed-upon frequency and
timeliness. T his is often measured in terms of percentages and agreed to formally in Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) used by network service providers and their enterprise clients.

3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

1.2. Security Controls

Computer security is often divided into three distinct master categories, commonly referred to as controls:

Physical

T echnical

Administrative

T hese three broad categories define the main objectives of proper security implementation. Within these
controls are sub-categories that further detail the controls and how to implement them.

1.2.1. Physical Controls

Physical control is the implementation of security measures in a defined structure used to deter or prevent
unauthorized access to sensitive material. Examples of physical controls are:

Closed-circuit surveillance cameras

Motion or thermal alarm systems

Security guards

Picture IDs

Locked and dead-bolted steel doors

Biometrics (includes fingerprint, voice, face, iris, handwriting, and other automated methods used to
recognize individuals)

1.2.2. Technical Controls

T echnical controls use technology as a basis for controlling the access and usage of sensitive data
throughout a physical structure and over a network. T echnical controls are far-reaching in scope and
encompass such technologies as:

Encryption

Smart cards

Network authentication

Access control lists (ACLs)

File integrity auditing software

1.2.3. Administrative Controls

Administrative controls define the human factors of security. T hey involve all levels of personnel within an
organization and determine which users have access to what resources and information by such means
as:

T raining and awareness

Disaster preparedness and recovery plans

Personnel recruitment and separation strategies

Personnel registration and accounting

4
 ⁠C hapter 1. Overview of Security T opics

1.3. Vulnerability Assessment

Given time, resources, and motivation, an attacker can break into nearly any system. All of the security
procedures and technologies currently available cannot guarantee that any systems are completely safe
from intrusion. Routers help secure gateways to the Internet. Firewalls help secure the edge of the
network. Virtual Private Networks safely pass data in an encrypted stream. Intrusion detection systems
warn you of malicious activity. However, the success of each of these technologies is dependent upon a
number of variables, including:

T he expertise of the staff responsible for configuring, monitoring, and maintaining the technologies.

T he ability to patch and update services and kernels quickly and efficiently.

T he ability of those responsible to keep constant vigilance over the network.

Given the dynamic state of data systems and technologies, securing corporate resources can be quite
complex. Due to this complexity, it is often difficult to find expert resources for all of your systems. While it
is possible to have personnel knowledgeable in many areas of information security at a high level, it is
difficult to retain staff who are experts in more than a few subject areas. T his is mainly because each
subject area of information security requires constant attention and focus. Information security does not
stand still.

A vulnerability assessment is an internal audit of your network and system security; the results of which
indicate the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your network (as explained in Section 1.1.1,
“Standardizing Security”). T ypically, vulnerability assessment starts with a reconnaissance phase, during
which important data regarding the target systems and resources is gathered. T his phase leads to the
system readiness phase, whereby the target is essentially checked for all known vulnerabilities. T he
readiness phase culminates in the reporting phase, where the findings are classified into categories of
high, medium, and low risk; and methods for improving the security (or mitigating the risk of vulnerability) of
the target are discussed

If you were to perform a vulnerability assessment of your home, you would likely check each door to your
home to see if they are closed and locked. You would also check every window, making sure that they
closed completely and latch correctly. T his same concept applies to systems, networks, and electronic
data. Malicious users are the thieves and vandals of your data. Focus on their tools, mentality, and
motivations, and you can then react swiftly to their actions.

1.3.1. Defining Assessment and Testing

Vulnerability assessments may be broken down into one of two types: outside looking in and inside looking
around.

When performing an outside-looking-in vulnerability assessment, you are attempting to compromise your
systems from the outside. Being external to your company provides you with the cracker's viewpoint. You
see what a cracker sees — publicly-routable IP addresses, systems on your DMZ, external interfaces of
your firewall, and more. DMZ stands for "demilitarized zone", which corresponds to a computer or small
subnetwork that sits between a trusted internal network, such as a corporate private LAN, and an
untrusted external network, such as the public Internet. T ypically, the DMZ contains devices accessible to
Internet traffic, such as Web (HT T P) servers, FT P servers, SMT P (e-mail) servers and DNS servers.

When you perform an inside-looking-around vulnerability assessment, you are at an advantage since you
are internal and your status is elevated to trusted. T his is the viewpoint you and your co-workers have
once logged on to your systems. You see print servers, file servers, databases, and other resources.

5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T here are striking distinctions between the two types of vulnerability assessments. Being internal to your
company gives you more privileges than an outsider. In most organizations, security is configured to keep
intruders out. Very little is done to secure the internals of the organization (such as departmental firewalls,
user-level access controls, and authentication procedures for internal resources). T ypically, there are
many more resources when looking around inside as most systems are internal to a company. Once you
are outside the company, your status is untrusted. T he systems and resources available to you externally
are usually very limited.

Consider the difference between vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. T hink of a vulnerability
assessment as the first step to a penetration test. T he information gleaned from the assessment is used
for testing. Whereas the assessment is undertaken to check for holes and potential vulnerabilities, the
penetration testing actually attempts to exploit the findings.

Assessing network infrastructure is a dynamic process. Security, both information and physical, is
dynamic. Performing an assessment shows an overview, which can turn up false positives and false
negatives. A false positive is a result, where the tool finds vulnerabilities which in reality do not exist. A
false negative is when it omits actual vulnerabilities.

Security administrators are only as good as the tools they use and the knowledge they retain. T ake any of
the assessment tools currently available, run them against your system, and it is almost a guarantee that
there are some false positives. Whether by program fault or user error, the result is the same. T he tool
may find false positives, or, even worse, false negatives.

Now that the difference between a vulnerability assessment and a penetration test is defined, take the
findings of the assessment and review them carefully before conducting a penetration test as part of your
new best practices approach.

Warning

Do not attempt to exploit vulnerabilities on production systems. Doing so can have adverse effects
on productivity and efficiency of your systems and network.

T he following list examines some of the benefits to performing vulnerability assessments.

Creates proactive focus on information security.

Finds potential exploits before crackers find them.

Results in systems being kept up to date and patched.

Promotes growth and aids in developing staff expertise.

Abates financial loss and negative publicity.

1.3.2. Establishing a Methodology for Vulnerability Assessment

T o aid in the selection of tools for a vulnerability assessment, it is helpful to establish a vulnerability
assessment methodology. Unfortunately, there is no predefined or industry approved methodology at this
time; however, common sense and best practices can act as a sufficient guide.

What is the target? Are we looking at one server, or are we looking at our entire network and everything
within the network? Are we external or internal to the company? T he answers to these questions are
important as they help determine not only which tools to select but also the manner in which they are used.

T o learn more about establishing methodologies, see the following website:

http://www.owasp.org/ — The Open Web Application Security Project

6
 ⁠C hapter 1. Overview of Security T opics

1.3.3. Vulnerability Assessment Tools

An assessment can start by using some form of an information-gathering tool. When assessing the entire
network, map the layout first to find the hosts that are running. Once located, examine each host
individually. Focusing on these hosts requires another set of tools. Knowing which tools to use may be the
most crucial step in finding vulnerabilities.

Just as in any aspect of everyday life, there are many different tools that perform the same job. T his
concept applies to performing vulnerability assessments as well. T here are tools specific to operating
systems, applications, and even networks (based on the protocols used). Some tools are free; others are
not. Some tools are intuitive and easy to use, while others are cryptic and poorly documented but have
features that other tools do not.

Finding the right tools may be a daunting task and, in the end, experience counts. If possible, set up a test
lab and try out as many tools as you can, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each. Review the
README file or man page for the tools. Additionally, look to the Internet for more information, such as
articles, step-by-step guides, or even mailing lists specific to the tools.

T he tools discussed below are just a small sampling of the available tools.

1.3.3.1. Scanning Hosts with Nmap

Nmap is a popular tool that can be used to determine the layout of a network. Nmap has been available
for many years and is probably the most often used tool when gathering information. An excellent manual
page is included that provides detailed descriptions of its options and usage. Administrators can use
Nmap on a network to find host systems and open ports on those systems.

Nmap is a competent first step in vulnerability assessment. You can map out all the hosts within your
network and even pass an option that allows Nmap to attempt to identify the operating system running on
a particular host. Nmap is a good foundation for establishing a policy of using secure services and
restricting unused services.

T o install Nmap, run the yum install nm ap command as the root user.

1.3.3.1.1. Using Nmap

Nmap can be run from a shell prompt by typing the nm ap command followed by the hostname or IP
address of the machine to scan:

nmap <hostname>

For example, to scan a machine with hostname foo.exam ple.com , type the following at a shell prompt:

~]$ nmap foo.example.com

T he results of a basic scan (which could take up to a few minutes, depending on where the host is located
and other network conditions) look similar to the following:

Interesting ports on foo.example.com:

Not shown: 1710 filtered ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
22/tcp open ssh
53/tcp open domain
80/tcp open http
113/tcp closed auth

7
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Nmap tests the most common network communication ports for listening or waiting services. T his
knowledge can be helpful to an administrator who wants to close unnecessary or unused services.

For more information about using Nmap, see the official homepage at the following URL:

http://www.insecure.org/

1.3.3.2. Nessus

Nessus is a full-service security scanner. T he plug-in architecture of Nessus allows users to customize it
for their systems and networks. As with any scanner, Nessus is only as good as the signature database it
relies upon. Fortunately, Nessus is frequently updated and features full reporting, host scanning, and real-
time vulnerability searches. Remember that there could be false positives and false negatives, even in a
tool as powerful and as frequently updated as Nessus.

Note

T he Nessus client and server software requires a subscription to use. It has been included in this
document as a reference to users who may be interested in using this popular application.

For more information about Nessus, see the official website at the following URL:

http://www.nessus.org/

1.3.3.3. OpenVAS

OpenVAS (Open Vulnerability Assessment System) is a set of tools and services that can be used to
scan for vulnerabilities and for a comprehensive vulnerability management. T he OpenVAS framework
offers a number of web-based, desktop, and command line tools for controlling the various components of
the solution. T he core functionality of OpenVAS is provided by a security scanner, which makes use of
over 33 thousand daily-updated Network Vulnerability T ests (NVT ). Unlike Nessus (see Section 1.3.3.2,
“Nessus”), OpenVAS does not require any subscription.

For more information about OpenVAS, see the official website at the following URL:

http://www.openvas.org/

1.3.3.4 . Nikto

Nikto is an excellent common gateway interface (CGI) script scanner. Nikto not only checks for CGI
vulnerabilities but does so in an evasive manner, so as to elude intrusion-detection systems. It comes with
thorough documentation which should be carefully reviewed prior to running the program. If you have web
servers serving CGI scripts, Nikto can be an excellent resource for checking the security of these
servers.

More information about Nikto can be found at the following URL:

http://cirt.net/nikto2

1.4. Security Threats

1.4.1. Threats to Network Security

Bad practices when configuring the following aspects of a network can increase the risk of an attack.

8
 ⁠C hapter 1. Overview of Security T opics

Insecure Architectures

A misconfigured network is a primary entry point for unauthorized users. Leaving a trust-based, open local
network vulnerable to the highly-insecure Internet is much like leaving a door ajar in a crime-ridden
neighborhood — nothing may happen for an arbitrary amount of time, but someone exploits the opportunity
eventually.

Broadcast Networks

System administrators often fail to realize the importance of networking hardware in their security
schemes. Simple hardware, such as hubs and routers, relies on the broadcast or non-switched principle;
that is, whenever a node transmits data across the network to a recipient node, the hub or router sends a
broadcast of the data packets until the recipient node receives and processes the data. T his method is
the most vulnerable to address resolution protocol (ARP) or media access control (MAC) address
spoofing by both outside intruders and unauthorized users on local hosts.

Centralized Servers

Another potential networking pitfall is the use of centralized computing. A common cost-cutting measure for
many businesses is to consolidate all services to a single powerful machine. T his can be convenient as it
is easier to manage and costs considerably less than multiple-server configurations. However, a
centralized server introduces a single point of failure on the network. If the central server is compromised,
it may render the network completely useless or worse, prone to data manipulation or theft. In these
situations, a central server becomes an open door that allows access to the entire network.

1.4.2. Threats to Server Security

Server security is as important as network security because servers often hold a great deal of an
organization's vital information. If a server is compromised, all of its contents may become available for the
cracker to steal or manipulate at will. T he following sections detail some of the main issues.

Unused Services and Open Ports

A full installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 contains more than 1000 application and library packages.
However, most server administrators do not opt to install every single package in the distribution,
preferring instead to install a base installation of packages, including several server applications. See
Section 2.3, “Installing the Minimum Amount of Packages Required” for an explanation of the reasons to
limit the number of installed packages and for additional resources.

A common occurrence among system administrators is to install the operating system without paying
attention to what programs are actually being installed. T his can be problematic because unneeded
services may be installed, configured with the default settings, and possibly turned on. T his can cause
unwanted services, such as T elnet, DHCP, or DNS, to run on a server or workstation without the
administrator realizing it, which in turn can cause unwanted traffic to the server or even a potential
pathway into the system for crackers. See Section 4.3, “Securing Services” for information on closing ports
and disabling unused services.

Unpatched Services

Most server applications that are included in a default installation are solid, thoroughly tested pieces of
software. Having been in use in production environments for many years, their code has been thoroughly
refined and many of the bugs have been found and fixed.

However, there is no such thing as perfect software and there is always room for further refinement.
Moreover, newer software is often not as rigorously tested as one might expect, because of its recent
arrival to production environments or because it may not be as popular as other server software.

9
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Developers and system administrators often find exploitable bugs in server applications and publish the
information on bug tracking and security-related websites such as the Bugtraq mailing list
(http://www.securityfocus.com) or the Computer Emergency Response T eam (CERT ) website
(http://www.cert.org). Although these mechanisms are an effective way of alerting the community to security
vulnerabilities, it is up to system administrators to patch their systems promptly. T his is particularly true
because crackers have access to these same vulnerability tracking services and will use the information
to crack unpatched systems whenever they can. Good system administration requires vigilance, constant
bug tracking, and proper system maintenance to ensure a more secure computing environment.

See Chapter 3, Keeping Your System Up-to-Date for more information about keeping a system up-to-date.

Inattentive Administration

Administrators who fail to patch their systems are one of the greatest threats to server security. According
to the SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security Institute (SANS), the primary cause of computer security
vulnerability is "assigning untrained people to maintain security and providing neither the training nor the
time to make it possible to learn and do the job." ⁠ [1] T his applies as much to inexperienced administrators
as it does to overconfident or amotivated administrators.

Some administrators fail to patch their servers and workstations, while others fail to watch log messages
from the system kernel or network traffic. Another common error is when default passwords or keys to
services are left unchanged. For example, some databases have default administration passwords
because the database developers assume that the system administrator changes these passwords
immediately after installation. If a database administrator fails to change this password, even an
inexperienced cracker can use a widely-known default password to gain administrative privileges to the
database. T hese are only a few examples of how inattentive administration can lead to compromised
servers.

Inherently Insecure Services

Even the most vigilant organization can fall victim to vulnerabilities if the network services they choose are
inherently insecure. For instance, there are many services developed under the assumption that they are
used over trusted networks; however, this assumption fails as soon as the service becomes available
over the Internet — which is itself inherently untrusted.

One category of insecure network services are those that require unencrypted usernames and passwords
for authentication. T elnet and FT P are two such services. If packet sniffing software is monitoring traffic
between the remote user and such a service usernames and passwords can be easily intercepted.

Inherently, such services can also more easily fall prey to what the security industry terms the man-in-the-
middle attack. In this type of attack, a cracker redirects network traffic by tricking a cracked name server on
the network to point to his machine instead of the intended server. Once someone opens a remote
session to the server, the attacker's machine acts as an invisible conduit, sitting quietly between the
remote service and the unsuspecting user capturing information. In this way a cracker can gather
administrative passwords and raw data without the server or the user realizing it.

Another category of insecure services include network file systems and information services such as NFS
or NIS, which are developed explicitly for LAN usage but are, unfortunately, extended to include WANs (for
remote users). NFS does not, by default, have any authentication or security mechanisms configured to
prevent a cracker from mounting the NFS share and accessing anything contained therein. NIS, as well,
has vital information that must be known by every computer on a network, including passwords and file
permissions, within a plain text ASCII or DBM (ASCII-derived) database. A cracker who gains access to this
database can then access every user account on a network, including the administrator's account.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is released with all such services turned off. However, since
administrators often find themselves forced to use these services, careful configuration is critical. See
Section 4.3, “Securing Services” for more information about setting up services in a safe manner.

10
 ⁠C hapter 1. Overview of Security T opics

1.4.3. Threats to Workstation and Home PC Security

Workstations and home PCs may not be as prone to attack as networks or servers, but since they often
contain sensitive data, such as credit card information, they are targeted by system crackers. Workstations
can also be co-opted without the user's knowledge and used by attackers as "slave" machines in
coordinated attacks. For these reasons, knowing the vulnerabilities of a workstation can save users the
headache of reinstalling the operating system, or worse, recovering from data theft.

Bad Passwords

Bad passwords are one of the easiest ways for an attacker to gain access to a system. For more on how
to avoid common pitfalls when creating a password, see Section 4.1.1, “Password Security”.

Vulnerable Client Applications

Although an administrator may have a fully secure and patched server, that does not mean remote users
are secure when accessing it. For instance, if the server offers T elnet or FT P services over a public
network, an attacker can capture the plain text usernames and passwords as they pass over the network,
and then use the account information to access the remote user's workstation.

Even when using secure protocols, such as SSH, a remote user may be vulnerable to certain attacks if
they do not keep their client applications updated. For instance, v.1 SSH clients are vulnerable to an X-
forwarding attack from malicious SSH servers. Once connected to the server, the attacker can quietly
capture any keystrokes and mouse clicks made by the client over the network. T his problem was fixed in
the v.2 SSH protocol, but it is up to the user to keep track of what applications have such vulnerabilities
and update them as necessary.

Section 4.1, “Desktop Security” discusses in more detail what steps administrators and home users
should take to limit the vulnerability of computer workstations.

1.5. Common Exploits and Attacks

T able 1.1, “Common Exploits” details some of the most common exploits and entry points used by
intruders to access organizational network resources. Key to these common exploits are the explanations
of how they are performed and how administrators can properly safeguard their network against such
attacks.

T able 1.1. Common Exploits

Exploit Description Notes

Null or Default Leaving administrative passwords blank Commonly associated with networking
Passwords or using a default password set by the hardware such as routers, firewalls,
product vendor. T his is most common in VPNs, and network attached storage
hardware such as routers and firewalls, (NAS) appliances.
but some services that run on Linux can
contain default administrator passwords Common in many legacy operating
as well (though Red Hat systems, especially those that bundle
Enterprise Linux 7 does not ship with services (such as UNIX and Windows.)
them).
Administrators sometimes create
privileged user accounts in a rush and
leave the password null, creating a
perfect entry point for malicious users
who discover the account.

11
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Exploit Description Notes

Default Shared Secure services sometimes package Most common in wireless access points
Keys default security keys for development or and preconfigured secure server
evaluation testing purposes. If these appliances.
keys are left unchanged and are placed
in a production environment on the
Internet, all users with the same default
keys have access to that shared-key
resource, and any sensitive information
that it contains.
IP Spoofing A remote machine acts as a node on Spoofing is quite difficult as it involves
your local network, finds vulnerabilities the attacker predicting T CP/IP
with your servers, and installs a sequence numbers to coordinate a
backdoor program or T rojan horse to connection to target systems, but
gain control over your network several tools are available to assist
resources. crackers in performing such a
vulnerability.

Depends on target system running

services (such as rsh, telnet, FT P
and others) that use source-based
authentication techniques, which are not
recommended when compared to PKI or
other forms of encrypted authentication
used in ssh or SSL/T LS.

Eavesdropping Collecting data that passes between T his type of attack works mostly with
two active nodes on a network by plain text transmission protocols such
eavesdropping on the connection as T elnet, FT P, and HT T P transfers.
between the two nodes.
Remote attacker must have access to a
compromised system on a LAN in order
to perform such an attack; usually the
cracker has used an active attack (such
as IP spoofing or man-in-the-middle) to
compromise a system on the LAN.

Preventative measures include services

with cryptographic key exchange, one-
time passwords, or encrypted
authentication to prevent password
snooping; strong encryption during
transmission is also advised.

12
 ⁠C hapter 1. Overview of Security T opics

Exploit Description Notes

Service An attacker finds a flaw or loophole in a HT T P-based services such as CGI are
Vulnerabilities service run over the Internet; through vulnerable to remote command
this vulnerability, the attacker execution and even interactive shell
compromises the entire system and any access. Even if the HT T P service runs
data that it may hold, and could possibly as a non-privileged user such as
compromise other systems on the "nobody", information such as
network. configuration files and network maps
can be read, or the attacker can start a
denial of service attack which drains
system resources or renders it
unavailable to other users.

Services sometimes can have

vulnerabilities that go unnoticed during
development and testing; these
vulnerabilities (such as buffer overflows,
where attackers crash a service using
arbitrary values that fill the memory
buffer of an application, giving the
attacker an interactive command prompt
from which they may execute arbitrary
commands) can give complete
administrative control to an attacker.

Administrators should make sure that

services do not run as the root user,
and should stay vigilant of patches and
errata updates for applications from
vendors or security organizations such
as CERT and CVE.

Application Attackers find faults in desktop and Workstations and desktops are more
Vulnerabilities workstation applications (such as email prone to exploitation as workers do not
clients) and execute arbitrary code, have the expertise or experience to
implant T rojan horses for future prevent or detect a compromise; it is
compromise, or crash systems. Further imperative to inform individuals of the
exploitation can occur if the risks they are taking when they install
compromised workstation has unauthorized software or open
administrative privileges on the rest of unsolicited email attachments.
the network.
Safeguards can be implemented such
that email client software does not
automatically open or execute
attachments. Additionally, the automatic
update of workstation software via Red
Hat Network; or other system
management services can alleviate the
burdens of multi-seat security
deployments.

13
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Exploit Description Notes

Denial of Service Attacker or group of attackers T he most reported DoS case in the US
(DoS) Attacks coordinate against an organization's occurred in 2000. Several highly-
network or server resources by sending trafficked commercial and government
unauthorized packets to the target host sites were rendered unavailable by a
(either server, router, or workstation). coordinated ping flood attack using
T his forces the resource to become several compromised systems with high
unavailable to legitimate users. bandwidth connections acting as
zombies, or redirected broadcast nodes.

Source packets are usually forged (as

well as rebroadcast), making
investigation as to the true source of
the attack difficult.

Advances in ingress filtering (IET F

rfc2267) using iptables and Network
Intrusion Detection Systems such as
snort assist administrators in tracking
down and preventing distributed DoS
attacks.

[1] http ://www.s ans .o rg /s ec urity-res o urc es /mis takes .p hp

14
 ⁠C hapter 2. Security T ips for Installation

Chapter 2. Security Tips for Installation

Security begins with the first time you put that CD or DVD into your disk drive to install Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7. Configuring your system securely from the beginning makes it easier to implement
additional security settings later.

2.1. Securing BIOS

Password protection for the BIOS (or BIOS equivalent) and the boot loader can prevent unauthorized
users who have physical access to systems from booting using removable media or obtaining root
privileges through single user mode. T he security measures you should take to protect against such
attacks depends both on the sensitivity of the information on the workstation and the location of the
machine.

For example, if a machine is used in a trade show and contains no sensitive information, then it may not be
critical to prevent such attacks. However, if an employee's laptop with private, unencrypted SSH keys for
the corporate network is left unattended at that same trade show, it could lead to a major security breach
with ramifications for the entire company.

If the workstation is located in a place where only authorized or trusted people have access, however, then
securing the BIOS or the boot loader may not be necessary.

2.1.1. BIOS Passwords

T he two primary reasons for password protecting the BIOS of a computer are ⁠ [2] :

1. Preventing Changes to BIOS Settings — If an intruder has access to the BIOS, they can set it to boot
from a CD-ROM or a flash drive. T his makes it possible for them to enter rescue mode or single
user mode, which in turn allows them to start arbitrary processes on the system or copy sensitive
data.

2. Preventing System Booting — Some BIOSes allow password protection of the boot process. When
activated, an attacker is forced to enter a password before the BIOS launches the boot loader.

Because the methods for setting a BIOS password vary between computer manufacturers, consult the
computer's manual for specific instructions.

If you forget the BIOS password, it can either be reset with jumpers on the motherboard or by
disconnecting the CMOS battery. For this reason, it is good practice to lock the computer case if possible.
However, consult the manual for the computer or motherboard before attempting to disconnect the CMOS
battery.

2.1.1.1. Securing Non-x86 Platforms

Other architectures use different programs to perform low-level tasks roughly equivalent to those of the
BIOS on x86 systems. For instance, Intel® Itanium™ computers use the Extensible Firmware Interface
(EFI) shell.

For instructions on password protecting BIOS-like programs on other architectures, see the
manufacturer's instructions.

2.2. Partitioning the Disk

Red Hat recommends creating separate partitions for /boot,/, /tm p and /var/tm p. T he reasons for
each are different and we will address each partition.

15
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

/boot

T his partition is the first partition that is read by the system during boot up. T he boot loader and
kernel images that are used to boot your system into Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 are stored in
this partition. T his partition should not be encrypted. If this partition is included in / and that
partition is encrypted or otherwise becomes unavailable then your system will not be able to boot.

/hom e

When user data (/hom e) is stored in / instead of in a separate partition, the partition can fill up
causing the operating system to become unstable. Also, when upgrading your system to the next
version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 it is a lot easier when you can keep your data in the /hom e
partition as it will not be overwritten during installation. If the root partition (/) becomes corrupt
your data could be lost forever. By using a separate partition there is slightly more protection
against data loss. You can also target this partition for frequent backups.

/tm p and /var/tm p

Both the /tm p and /var/tm p directories are used to store data that does not need to be stored
for a long period of time. However, if a lot of data floods one of these directories it can consume
all of your storage space. If this happens and these directories are stored within / then your
system could become unstable and crash. For this reason, moving these directories into their own
partitions is a good idea.

Note

During the installation process, an option to encrypt partitions is presented to you. T he user must
supply a passphrase. T his passphrase will be used as a key to unlock the bulk encryption key,
which is used to secure the partition's data. For more information on LUKS, see Section 4.9.1,
“Using LUKS Disk Encryption”.

2.3. Installing the Minimum Amount of Packages Required

It is best practice to install only the packages you will use because each piece of software on your
computer could possibly contain a vulnerability. If you are installing from the DVD media, take the
opportunity to select exactly what packages you want to install during the installation. If you find you need
another package, you can always add it to the system later.

A minimal installation can also be performed via a Kickstart file using the --nobase option. For more
information about Kickstart installations and the Minim al install environment, see the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 Installation Guide.

2.4. Post-installation Procedures

T he following steps are the security-related procedures that should be performed immediately after
installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

1. Update your system. Run the following command as root:

~]# yum update

16
 ⁠C hapter 2. Security T ips for Installation

2. Even though the firewall service, firewalld, is automatically enabled with the installation of Red
Hat Enterprise Linux, there are scenarios where it might be explicitly disabled, for example in the
kickstart configuration. In such a case, it is recommended to consider re-enabling the firewall.

T o start firewalld run the following commands as root:

~]# systemctl start firewalld

~]# systemctl enable firewalld

3. T o enhance security, disable services you do not need. For example, if there are no printers
installed on your computer, disable the cups service using the following command:

~]# systemctl disable cups

T o review active services, run the following command:

~]$ systemctl list-units | grep service

2.5. Additional Resources

For more information about installation in general, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Installation Guide.

[2] Sinc e s ys tem BIO Ses d iffer b etween manufac turers , s o me may no t s up p o rt p as s wo rd p ro tec tio n o f either typ e, while o thers may
s up p o rt o ne typ e b ut no t the o ther.

17
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Chapter 3. Keeping Your System Up-to-Date

T his chapter describes the process of keeping your system up-to-date, which involves planning and
configuring the way security updates are installed, applying changes introduced by newly updated
packages, and using the Red Hat Customer Portal for keeping track of security advisories.

3.1. Maintaining Installed Software

As security vulnerabilities are discovered, the affected software must be updated in order to limit any
potential security risks. If the software is a part of a package within a Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution
that is currently supported, Red Hat is committed to releasing updated packages that fix the vulnerabilities
as soon as possible.

Often, announcements about a given security exploit are accompanied with a patch (or source code) that
fixes the problem. T his patch is then applied to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux package and tested and
released as an erratum update. However, if an announcement does not include a patch, Red Hat
developers first work with the maintainer of the software to fix the problem. Once the problem is fixed, the
package is tested and released as an erratum update.

If an erratum update is released for software used on your system, it is highly recommended that you
update the affected packages as soon as possible to minimize the amount of time the system is potentially
vulnerable.

3.1.1. Planning and Configuring Security Updates

All software contains bugs. Often, these bugs can result in a vulnerability that can expose your system to
malicious users. Packages that have not been updated are a common cause of computer intrusions.
Implement a plan for installing security patches in a timely manner to quickly eliminate discovered
vulnerabilities, so they cannot be exploited.

T est security updates when they become available and schedule them for installation. Additional controls
need to be used to protect the system during the time between the release of the update and its
installation on the system. T hese controls depend on the exact vulnerability, but may include additional
firewall rules, the use of external firewalls, or changes in software settings.

Bugs in supported packages are fixed using the errata mechanism. An erratum consists of one or more
RPM packages accompanied by a brief explanation of the problem that the particular erratum deals with. All
errata are distributed to customers with active subscriptions through the Red Hat Subscription
Management service. Errata that address security issues are called Red Hat Security Advisories.

For more information on working with security errata, see Section 3.2.1, “Viewing Security Advisories on the
Customer Portal”. For detailed information about the Red Hat Subscription Management service,
including instructions on how to migrate from RHN Classic, see the documentation related to this service:
Red Hat Subscription Management.

3.1.1.1. Using the Security Features of Yum

T he Yum package manager includes several security-related features that can be used to search, list,
display, and install security errata. T hese features also make it possible to use Yum to install nothing but
security updates.

T o check for security-related updates available for your system, run the following command as root:

18
 ⁠C hapter 3. Keeping Your System Up-to-Date

~]# yum check-update --security

Loaded plugins: langpacks, product-id, subscription-manager
rhel-7-workstation-rpms/x86_64 | 3.4 kB 00:00:00
No packages needed for security; 0 packages available

Note that the above command runs in a non-interactive mode, so it can be used in scripts for automated
checking whether there are any updates available. T he command returns an exit value of 100 when there
are any security updates available and 0 when there are not. On encountering an error, it returns 1.

Analogously, use the following command to only install security-related updates:

~]# yum update --security

Use the updateinfo subcommand to display or act upon information provided by repositories about
available updates. T he updateinfo subcommand itself accepts a number of commands, some of which
pertain to security-related uses. See T able 3.1, “Security-related commands usable with yum updateinfo”
for an overview of these commands.

T able 3.1. Security-related commands usable with yum updateinfo

Command Description
advisory [advisories] Displays information about one or more advisories. Replace advisory
with an advisory number or numbers.
cves Displays the subset of information that pertains to CVE (Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures).
security or sec Displays all security-related information.
severity or sev Displays information about security-relevant packages of the supplied
severity_level severity_level.

3.1.2. Updating and Installing Packages

When updating software on a system, it is important to download the update from a trusted source. An
attacker can easily rebuild a package with the same version number as the one that is supposed to fix the
problem but with a different security exploit and release it on the Internet. If this happens, using security
measures, such as verifying files against the original RPM, does not detect the exploit. T hus, it is very
important to only download RPMs from trusted sources, such as from Red Hat, and to check the package
signatures to verify their integrity.

See the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide for detailed information on how to use
the Yum package manager.

3.1.2.1. Verifying Signed Packages

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux packages are signed with the Red Hat GPG key. GPG stands for GNU
Privacy Guard, or GnuPG, a free software package used for ensuring the authenticity of distributed files.
If the verification of a package signature fails, the package may be altered and therefore cannot be trusted.

T he Yum package manager allows for an automatic verification of all packages it install or upgrades. T his
feature is enabled by default. T o configure this option on your system, make sure the gpgcheck
configuration directive is set to 1 in the /etc/yum .conf configuration file.

Use the following command to manually verify package files on your filesystem:

rpmkeys --checksig package_file.rpm

19
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

See the Product Signing (GPG) Keys article on the Red Hat Customer Portal for additional information
about Red Hat package-signing practices.

3.1.2.2. Installing Signed Packages

T o install verified packages (see Section 3.1.2.1, “Verifying Signed Packages” for information on how to
verify packages) from your filesystem, use the yum install command as the root user as follows:

yum install package_file.rpm

Use a shell glob to install several packages at once. For example, the following commands installs all
.rpm packages in the current directory:

yum install *.rpm

Important

Before installing any security errata, be sure to read any special instructions contained in the
erratum report and execute them accordingly. See Section 3.1.3, “Applying Changes Introduced by
Installed Updates” for general instructions about applying changes made by errata updates.

3.1.3. Applying Changes Introduced by Installed Updates

After downloading and installing security errata and updates, it is important to halt the usage of the old
software and begin using the new software. How this is done depends on the type of software that has
been updated. T he following list itemizes the general categories of software and provides instructions for
using updated versions after a package upgrade.

Note

In general, rebooting the system is the surest way to ensure that the latest version of a software
package is used; however, this option is not always required, nor is it always available to the
system administrator.

Applications

User-space applications are any programs that can be initiated by the user. T ypically, such
applications are used only when the user, a script, or an automated task utility launch them.

Once such a user-space application is updated, halt any instances of the application on the
system, and launch the program again to use the updated version.

Kernel

T he kernel is the core software component for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 operating system. It
manages access to memory, the processor, and peripherals, and it schedules all tasks.

Because of its central role, the kernel cannot be restarted without also rebooting the computer.
T herefore, an updated version of the kernel cannot be used until the system is rebooted.

KVM

20
 ⁠C hapter 3. Keeping Your System Up-to-Date

When the qemu-kvm and libvirt packages are updated, it is necessary to stop all guest virtual
machines, reload relevant virtualization modules (or reboot the host system), and restart the
virtual machines.

Use the lsm od command to determine which modules from the following are loaded: kvm , kvm -
intel, or kvm -am d. T hen use the m odprove -r command to remove and subsequently the
m odprobe -a command to reload the affected modules. Fox example:

~]# lsmod | grep kvm

kvm_intel 143031 0
kvm 460181 1 kvm_intel
~]# modprobe -r kvm-intel
~]# modprobe -r kvm
~]# modprobe -a kvm kvm-intel

Shared Libraries

Shared libraries are units of code, such as glibc, that are used by a number of applications and
services. Applications utilizing a shared library typically load the shared code when the application
is initialized, so any applications using an updated library must be halted and relaunched.

T o determine which running applications link against a particular library, use the lsof command:

lsof library

For example, to determine which running applications link against the libwrap.so.0 library,
type:

~]# lsof /lib64/libwrap.so.0

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
pulseaudi 12363 test mem REG 253,0 42520 34121785
/usr/lib64/libwrap.so.0.7.6
gnome-set 12365 test mem REG 253,0 42520 34121785
/usr/lib64/libwrap.so.0.7.6
gnome-she 12454 test mem REG 253,0 42520 34121785
/usr/lib64/libwrap.so.0.7.6

T his command returns a list of all the running programs that use T CP wrappers for host-access
control. T herefore, any program listed must be halted and relaunched when the tcp_wrappers
package is updated.

systemd Services

systemd services are persistent server programs usually launched during the boot process.
Examples of systemd services include sshd or vsftpd.

Because these programs usually persist in memory as long as a machine is running, each
updated systemd service must be halted and relaunched after its package is upgraded. T his can
be done as the root user using the system ctl command:

systemctl restart service_name

Replace service_name with the name of the service you wish to restart, such as sshd.

Other Software

21
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Follow the instructions outlined by the resources linked below to correctly update the following
applications.

Red Hat Directory Server — See the Release Notes for the version of the Red Hat
Directory Server in question at the Red Hat Directory Server product documentation page.

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager — See the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Installation Guide for the version of the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization in question at the
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization product documentation page.

3.2. Using the Red Hat Customer Portal

T he Red Hat Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com/ is the main customer-oriented resource for
official information related to Red Hat products. You can use it to find documentation, manage your
subscriptions, download products and updates, open support cases, and learn about security updates.

3.2.1. Viewing Security Advisories on the Customer Portal

T o view security advisories (errata) relevant to the systems for which you have active subscriptions, log
into the Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com/ and click on the Download Products &
Updates button on the main page. When you enter the Software & Download Center page,
continue by clicking on the Errata button to see a list of advisories pertinent to your registered systems.

T o browse a list of all security updates for all active Red Hat products, go to Security → Security
Updates → Active Products using the navigation menu at the top of the page.

Click on the erratum code in the left part of the table to display more detailed information about the
individual advisories. T he next page contains not only a description of the given erratum, including its
causes, consequences, and required fixes, but also a list of all packages that the particular erratum
updates along with instructions on how to apply the updates. T he page also includes links to relevant
references, such as related CVE.

3.2.2. Navigating CVE Customer Portal Pages

T he CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) project, maintained by T he MIT RE Corporation, is a list
of standardized names for vulnerabilities and security exposures. T o browse a list of CVE that pertain to
Red Hat products on the Customer Portal, log into your account at https://access.redhat.com/ and navigate
to Security → Resources → CVE Database using the navigation menu at the top of the page.

Click on the CVE code in the left part of the table to display more detailed information about the individual
vulnerabilities. T he next page contains not only a description of the given CVE but also a list of affected
Red Hat products along with links to relevant Red Hat errata.

3.2.3. Understanding Issue Severity Classification

All security issues discovered in Red Hat products are assigned an impact rating by the Red Hat Security
Response Team according to the severity of the problem. T he four-point scale consists of the following
levels: Low, Moderate, Important, and Critical. In addition to that, every security issues is rated using the
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores.

T ogether, these ratings help you understand the impact of security issues, allowing you to schedule and
prioritize upgrade strategies for your systems. Note that the ratings reflect the potential risk of a given
vulnerability, which is based on a technical analysis of the bug, not the current threat level. T his means
that the security impact rating does not change if an exploit is released for a particular flaw.

22
 ⁠C hapter 3. Keeping Your System Up-to-Date

T o see a detailed description of the individual levels of severity ratings on the Customer Portal, log into
your account at https://access.redhat.com/ and navigate to Security → Policies → Severity Ratings
using the navigation menu at the top of the page.

3.3. Additional Resources

For more information about security updates, ways of applying them, the Red Hat Customer Portal, and
related topics, see the resources listed below.

Installed Documentation

yum(8) — T he manual page for the Yum package manager provides information about the way Yum
can be used to install, update, and remove packages on your systems.

rpmkeys(8) — T he manual page for the rpm keys utility describes the way this program can be used to
verify the authenticity of downloaded packages.

Online Documentation

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide — T he System Administrator's Guide for
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 documents the use of the Yum and rpm programs that are used to install,
update, and remove packages on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 systems.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 SELinux User's and Administrator's Guide — T he SELinux User's and
Administrator's Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 documents the configuration of the SELinux
mandatory access control mechanism.

Red Hat Customer Portal

Red Hat Customer Portal — T he main page of the Customer Portal contains links to the most important
resources as well as updates about new content available through the portal.

Security Contacts and Procedures — T he place to find information about the Red Hat Security
Response T eam and instructions on when to contact it.

Red Hat Security Blog — Articles about latest security-related issues from Red Hat security
professionals.

See Also

Chapter 2, Security Tips for Installation describes how to configuring your system securely from the
beginning to make it easier to implement additional security settings later.

Section 4.9.2, “Creating GPG Keys” describes how to create a set of personal GPG keys to
authenticate your communications.

23
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Chapter 4. Hardening Your System with Tools and Services

4.1. Desktop Security

Passwords are the primary method that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 uses to verify a user's identity. T his is
why password security is so important for protection of the user, the workstation, and the network.

For security purposes, the installation program configures the system to use Secure Hash Algorithm 512
(SHA512) and shadow passwords. It is highly recommended that you do not alter these settings.

If shadow passwords are deselected during installation, all passwords are stored as a one-way hash in
the world-readable /etc/passwd file, which makes the system vulnerable to offline password cracking
attacks. If an intruder can gain access to the machine as a regular user, he can copy the /etc/passwd
file to his own machine and run any number of password cracking programs against it. If there is an
insecure password in the file, it is only a matter of time before the password cracker discovers it.

Shadow passwords eliminate this type of attack by storing the password hashes in the file /etc/shadow,
which is readable only by the root user.

T his forces a potential attacker to attempt password cracking remotely by logging into a network service
on the machine, such as SSH or FT P. T his sort of brute-force attack is much slower and leaves an
obvious trail as hundreds of failed login attempts are written to system files. Of course, if the cracker starts
an attack in the middle of the night on a system with weak passwords, the cracker may have gained
access before dawn and edited the log files to cover his tracks.

In addition to format and storage considerations is the issue of content. T he single most important thing a
user can do to protect his account against a password cracking attack is create a strong password.

4.1.1. Password Security

4 .1.1.1. Creating Strong Passwords

When creating a secure password, the user must remember that long passwords are stronger than short
and complex ones. It is not a good idea to create a password of just eight characters, even if it contains
digits, special characters and uppercase letters. Password cracking tools, such as John T he Ripper, are
optimized for breaking such passwords, which are also hard to remember by a person.

In information theory, entropy is the level of uncertainty associated with a random variable and is
presented in bits. T he higher the entropy value, the more secure the password is. According to NIST SP
800-63-1, passwords that are not present in a dictionary comprised of 50000 commonly selected
passwords should have at least 10 bits of entropy. As such, a password that consists of four random
words contains around 40 bits of entropy. A long password consisting of multiple words for added security
is also called a passphrase, for example:

randomword1 randomword2 randomword3 randomword4

If the system enforces the use of uppercase letters, digits, or special characters, the passphrase that
follows the above recommendation can be modified in a simple way, for example by changing the first
character to uppercase and appending "1!". Note that such a modification does not increase the security
of the passphrase significantly.

Another way to create a password yourself is using a password generator. T he pwmake is a command-
line tool for generating random passwords that consist of all four groups of characters – uppercase,
lowercase, digits and special characters. T he utility allows you to specify the number of entropy bits that
are used to generate the password. T he entropy is pulled from /dev/urandom . T he minimum number of

24
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

bits you can specify is 56, which is enough for passwords on systems and services where brute force
attacks are rare. 64 bits is adequate for applications where the attacker does not have direct access to
the password hash file. For situations when the attacker might obtain the direct access to the password
hash or the password is used as an encryption key, 80 to 128 bits should be used. If you specify an
invalid number of entropy bits, pwmake will use the default of bits. T o create a password of 128 bits, run
the following command:

pwmake 128

While there are different approaches to creating a secure password, always avoid the following bad
practices:

Using a single dictionary word, a word in a foreign language, an inverted word, or only numbers.

Using less than 10 characters for a password or passphrase.

Using a sequence of keys from the keyboard layout.

Writing down your passwords.

Using personal information in a password, such as birth dates, anniversaries, family member names, or
pet names.

Using the same passphrase or password on multiple machines.

While creating secure passwords is imperative, managing them properly is also important, especially for
system administrators within larger organizations. T he following section details good practices for creating
and managing user passwords within an organization.

4 .1.1.2. Forcing Strong Passwords

If an organization has a large number of users, the system administrators have two basic options available
to force the use of strong passwords. T hey can create passwords for the user, or they can let users
create their own passwords while verifying the passwords are of adequate strength.

Creating the passwords for the users ensures that the passwords are good, but it becomes a daunting
task as the organization grows. It also increases the risk of users writing their passwords down, thus
exposing them.

For these reasons, most system administrators prefer to have the users create their own passwords, but
actively verify that these passwords are strong enough. In some cases, administrators may force users to
change their passwords periodically through password aging.

When users are asked to create or change passwords, they can use the passwd command-line utility,
which is PAM-aware (Pluggable Authentication Modules) and checks to see if the password is too short or
otherwise easy to crack. T his checking is performed by the pam _pwquality.so PAM module.

Note

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, the pam _pwquality PAM module replaced pam _cracklib, which
was used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 as a default module for password quality checking. It uses
the same back end as pam _cracklib.

25
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T he pam _pwquality module is used to check a password's strength against a set of rules. Its
procedure consists of two steps: first it checks if the provided password is found in a dictionary. If not, it
continues with a number of additional checks. pam _pwquality is stacked alongside other PAM modules
in the password component of the /etc/pam .d/passwd file, and the custom set of rules is specified in
the /etc/security/pwquality.conf configuration file. For a complete list of these checks, see the
pwquality.conf (8) manual page.

Example 4 .1. Configuring password strength-checking in pwquality.conf

T o enable using pam _quality, add the following line to the password stack in the
/etc/pam .d/passwd file:

password required pam_pwquality.so retry=3

Options for the checks are specified one per line. For example, to require a password with a minimum
length of 8 characters, including all four classes of characters, add the following lines to the
/etc/security/pwquality.conf file:

minlen=8
minclass=4

T o set a password strength-check for consecutive or repetitive characters, add the following lines to
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:

maxsequence=3
maxrepeat=3

In this example, the password entered cannot contain more than 3 consecutive characters, such as
"abcd" or "1234 ". Additionally, the number of identical consecutive characters is limited to 3.

Note

As the root user is the one who enforces the rules for password creation, he can set any password
for himself or for a regular user, despite the warning messages.

4 .1.1.3. Configuring Password Aging

Password aging is another technique used by system administrators to defend against bad passwords
within an organization. Password aging means that after a specified period (usually 90 days), the user is
prompted to create a new password. T he theory behind this is that if a user is forced to change his
password periodically, a cracked password is only useful to an intruder for a limited amount of time. T he
downside to password aging, however, is that users are more likely to write their passwords down.

T here are two primary programs used to specify password aging under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: the
chage command or the graphical User Manager (system -config-users) application.

Important

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, shadow passwords are enabled by default. For more information, see
the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide.

26
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T he -M option of the chage command specifies the maximum number of days the password is valid. For
example, to set a user's password to expire in 90 days, use the following command:

chage -M 90 <username>

In the above command, replace <username> with the name of the user. T o disable password expiration, it
is traditional to use a value of 99999 after the -M option (this equates to a little over 273 years).

For more information on the options available with the chage command, see the table below.

T able 4 .1. chage command line options

Option Description
-d days Specifies the number of days since January 1, 1970 the password was
changed.
-E date Specifies the date on which the account is locked, in the format YYYY-
MM-DD. Instead of the date, the number of days since January 1, 1970
can also be used.
-I days Specifies the number of inactive days after the password expiration
before locking the account. If the value is 0, the account is not locked
after the password expires.
-l Lists current account aging settings.
-m days Specify the minimum number of days after which the user must change
passwords. If the value is 0, the password does not expire.
-M days Specify the maximum number of days for which the password is valid.
When the number of days specified by this option plus the number of
days specified with the -d option is less than the current day, the user
must change passwords before using the account.
-W days Specifies the number of days before the password expiration date to
warn the user.

You can also use the chage command in interactive mode to modify multiple password aging and account
details. Use the following command to enter interactive mode:

chage <username>

T he following is a sample interactive session using this command:

~]# chage juan

Changing the aging information for juan
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
Minimum Password Age [0]: 10
Maximum Password Age [99999]: 90
Last Password Change (YYYY-MM-DD) [2006-08-18]:
Password Expiration Warning [7]:
Password Inactive [-1]:
Account Expiration Date (YYYY-MM-DD) [1969-12-31]:

You can configure a password to expire the first time a user logs in. T his forces users to change
passwords immediately.

1. Set up an initial password. T here are two common approaches to this step: you can either assign a
default password, or you can use a null password.

27
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T o assign a default password, type the following at a shell prompt as root:

passwd username

T o assign a null password instead, use the following command:

passwd -d username

Warning

Using a null password, while convenient, is a highly insecure practice, as any third party can
log in first and access the system using the insecure username. Avoid using null passwords
wherever possible. If it is not possible, always make sure that the user is ready to log in
before unlocking an account with a null password.

2. Force immediate password expiration by running the following command as root:

chage -d 0 username

T his command sets the value for the date the password was last changed to the epoch (January 1,
1970). T his value forces immediate password expiration no matter what password aging policy, if
any, is in place.

Upon the initial log in, the user is now prompted for a new password.

You can also use the graphical User Manager application to create password aging policies, as follows.
Note: you need Administrator privileges to perform this procedure.

1. Click the System menu on the Panel, point to Administration and then click Users and Groups to
display the User Manager. Alternatively, type the command system -config-users at a shell
prompt.

2. Click the Users tab, and select the required user in the list of users.

3. Click Properties on the toolbar to display the User Properties dialog box (or choose Properties
on the File menu).

4. Click the Password Info tab, and select the check box for Enable password expiration.

5. Enter the required value in the Days before change required field, and click OK.

4.1.2. Locking Inactive User Accounts

4.1.3. Locking User Accounts After Failed Login Attempts

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, the pam _faillock PAM module allows system administrators to lock out
user accounts after a specified number of failed attempts. Limiting user login attempts serves mainly as a
security measure that aims to prevent possible brute force attacks targeted to obtain a user's account
password

With the pam _faillock module, failed login attempts are stored in a separate file for each user in the
/var/run/faillock directory.

28
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Note

T he order of lines in the failed attempt log files is important. Any change in this order can lock all
user accounts, including the root user account when the even_deny_root option is used.

Follow these steps to configure account locking:

1. T o lock out any non-root user after three unsuccessful attempts and unlock that user after 10
minutes, add the following lines to the auth section of the /etc/pam .d/system -auth and
/etc/pam .d/password-auth files:

auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent audit deny=3

unlock_time=600
auth sufficient pam_unix.so nullok try_first_pass
auth [default=die] pam_faillock.so authfail audit deny=3
unlock_time=600

2. Add the following line to the account section of both files specified in the previous step:

account required pam_faillock.so

3. T o apply account locking for the root user as well, add the even_deny_root option to the
pam _faillock entries in the /etc/pam .d/system -auth and /etc/pam .d/password-auth
files:

auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent audit deny=3

even_deny_root unlock_time=600
auth sufficient pam_unix.so nullok try_first_pass
auth [default=die] pam_faillock.so authfail audit deny=3 even_deny_root
unlock_time=600
auth sufficient pam_faillock.so authsucc audit deny=3 even_deny_root
unlock_time=600

When user john attempts to log in for the fourth time after failing to log in three times previously, his
account is locked upon the fourth attempt:

[yruseva@localhost ~]$ su - john

Account locked due to 3 failed logins
su: incorrect password

T o disable a user from locking out even after multiple failed logins add the below line just above the "first
call of" pam_faillock in both /etc/pam .d/system -auth and /etc/pam .d/password-auth. Also
replace user1, user2, user3 with the actual user names.

auth [success=1 default=ignore] pam_succeed_if.so user in user1:user2:user3

T o view the number of failed attempts per user, run, as root, the following command:

[root@localhost ~]# faillock

john:
When Type Source Valid
2013-03-05 11:44:14 TTY pts/0 V

T o unlock a user's account, run, as root, the following command:

29
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

faillock --user <username> --reset

When modifying authentication configuration using the authconfig utility, the system -auth and
password-auth files are overwritten with the settings from the authconfig utility. In order to use the
configuration files and authconfig simultaneously, you must configure account locking using the following
steps:

1. Create the following symbolic links:

~]# ln -s /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/system-auth-local

~]# ln -s /etc/pam.d/password-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth-local

2. T he /etc/pam .d/system -auth-local file should contain the following lines:

auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent audit deny=3

unlock_time=600 include system-auth-ac
auth [default=die] pam_faillock.so authfail silent audit deny=3
unlock_time=600

account required pam_faillock.so

account include system-auth-ac

password include system-auth-ac

session include system-auth-ac

3. T he /etc/pam .d/password-auth-local file should contain the following lines:

auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent audit deny=3

unlock_time=600 include password-auth-ac
auth [default=die] pam_faillock.so authfail silent audit deny=3
unlock_time=600

account required pam_faillock.so

account include password-auth-ac

password include system-auth-ac

session include system-auth-ac

For more information on various pam _faillock configuration options, see the pam _faillock(8) man
page.

4.1.4. Session Locking

Users may need to leave their workstation unattended for a number of reasons during everyday operation.
T his could present an opportunity for an attacker to physically access the machine, especially in
environments with insufficient physical security measures (see Section 1.2.1, “Physical Controls”). Laptops
are especially exposed since their mobility interferes with physical security. You can alleviate these risks
by using session locking features which prevent access to the system until a correct password is entered.

Note

T he main advantage of locking the screen instead of logging out is that a lock allows the user's
processes (such as file transfers) to continue running. Logging out would stop these processes.

30
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4 .1.4 .1. Locking Virtual Consoles Using vlock

Users may also need to lock a virtual console. T his can be done using a utility called vlock. T o install this
utility, execute the following command as root:

~]# yum install vlock

After installation, any console session can be locked using the vlock command without any additional
parameters. T his locks the currently active virtual console session while still allowing access to the others.
T o prevent access to all virtual consoles on the workstation, execute the following:

vlock -a

In this case, vlock locks the currently active console and the -a option prevents switching to other virtual
consoles.

See the vlock(1) man page for additional information.

Important

T here are several known issues relevant to the version of vlock currently available for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7:

T he program does not currently allow unlocking consoles using the root password. Additional
information can be found in BZ #895066.
Locking a console does not clear the screen and scrollback buffer, allowing anyone with
physical access to the workstation to view previously issued commands and any output
displayed in the console. See BZ #807369 for more information.

4.2. Controlling Root Access

When administering a home machine, the user must perform some tasks as the root user or by acquiring
effective root privileges via a setuid program, such as sudo or su. A setuid program is one that operates
with the user ID (UID) of the program's owner rather than the user operating the program. Such programs
are denoted by an s in the owner section of a long format listing, as in the following example:

~]$ ls -l /bin/su
-rwsr-xr-x. 1 root root 34904 Mar 10 2011 /bin/su

Note

T he s may be upper case or lower case. If it appears as upper case, it means that the underlying
permission bit has not been set.

For the system administrators of an organization, however, choices must be made as to how much
administrative access users within the organization should have to their machine. T hrough a PAM module
called pam _console.so, some activities normally reserved only for the root user, such as rebooting and
mounting removable media are allowed for the first user that logs in at the physical console. However,

31
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

other important system administration tasks, such as altering network settings, configuring a new mouse,
or mounting network devices, are not possible without administrative privileges. As a result, system
administrators must decide how much access the users on their network should receive.

4.2.1. Disallowing Root Access

If an administrator is uncomfortable allowing users to log in as root for these or other reasons, the root
password should be kept secret, and access to runlevel one or single user mode should be disallowed
through boot loader password protection (see Section 4.2.5, “Securing the Boot Loader” for more
information on this topic.)

T he following are four different ways that an administrator can further ensure that root logins are
disallowed:

Changing the root shell

T o prevent users from logging in directly as root, the system administrator can set the root
account's shell to /sbin/nologin in the /etc/passwd file.

T able 4 .2. Disabling the Root Shell

Effects Does Not Affect

Prevents access to the root shell and logs Programs that do not require a shell, such as
any such attempts. T he following programs FT P clients, mail clients, and many setuid
are prevented from accessing the root programs. T he following programs are not
account: prevented from accessing the root account:

login sudo
gdm FT P clients
kdm Email clients
xdm
su
ssh
scp
sftp

Disabling root access via any console device (tty)

T o further limit access to the root account, administrators can disable root logins at the console
by editing the /etc/securetty file. T his file lists all devices the root user is allowed to log into. If
the file does not exist at all, the root user can log in through any communication device on the
system, whether via the console or a raw network interface. T his is dangerous, because a user
can log in to their machine as root via T elnet, which transmits the password in plain text over the
network.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7's /etc/securetty file only allows the root user to log in
at the console physically attached to the machine. T o prevent the root user from logging in,
remove the contents of this file by typing the following command at a shell prompt as root:

echo > /etc/securetty

T o enable securetty support in the KDM, GDM, and XDM login managers, add the following line:

auth [user_unknown=ignore success=ok ignore=ignore default=bad]

pam_securetty.so

32
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

to the files listed below:

/etc/pam .d/gdm

/etc/pam .d/gdm -autologin

/etc/pam .d/gdm -fingerprint

/etc/pam .d/gdm -password

/etc/pam .d/gdm -sm artcard

/etc/pam .d/kdm

/etc/pam .d/kdm -np

/etc/pam .d/xdm

Warning

A blank /etc/securetty file does not prevent the root user from logging in remotely
using the OpenSSH suite of tools because the console is not opened until after
authentication.

T able 4 .3. Disabling Root Logins

Effects Does Not Affect

Prevents access to the root account via the Programs that do not log in as root, but
console or the network. T he following perform administrative tasks through setuid or
programs are prevented from accessing the other mechanisms. T he following programs
root account: are not prevented from accessing the root
account:
login
gdm su
kdm sudo
xdm ssh
Other network services that open a tty scp
sftp

Disabling root SSH logins

T o prevent root logins via the SSH protocol, edit the SSH daemon's configuration file,
/etc/ssh/sshd_config, and change the line that reads:

#PermitRootLogin yes

to read as follows:

PermitRootLogin no

T able 4 .4 . Disabling Root SSH Logins

33
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Effects Does Not Affect

Prevents root access via the OpenSSH suite Programs that are not part of the OpenSSH
of tools. T he following programs are suite of tools.
prevented from accessing the root account:

ssh
scp
sftp

Using PAM to limit root access to services

PAM, through the /lib/security/pam _listfile.so module, allows great flexibility in

denying specific accounts. T he administrator can use this module to reference a list of users who
are not allowed to log in. T o limit root access to a system service, edit the file for the target
service in the /etc/pam .d/ directory and make sure the pam _listfile.so module is
required for authentication.

T he following is an example of how the module is used for the vsftpd FT P server in the
/etc/pam .d/vsftpd PAM configuration file (the \ character at the end of the first line is not
necessary if the directive is on a single line):

auth required /lib/security/pam_listfile.so item=user \

sense=deny file=/etc/vsftpd.ftpusers onerr=succeed

T his instructs PAM to consult the /etc/vsftpd.ftpusers file and deny access to the service
for any listed user. T he administrator can change the name of this file, and can keep separate
lists for each service or use one central list to deny access to multiple services.

If the administrator wants to deny access to multiple services, a similar line can be added to the
PAM configuration files, such as /etc/pam .d/pop and /etc/pam .d/im ap for mail clients, or
/etc/pam .d/ssh for SSH clients.

For more information about PAM, see The Linux-PAM System Administrator's Guide, located in the
/usr/share/doc/pam -<version>/htm l/ directory.

T able 4 .5. Disabling Root Using PAM

Effects Does Not Affect

Prevents root access to network services that Programs and services that are not PAM
are PAM aware. T he following services are aware.
prevented from accessing the root account:

login
gdm
kdm
xdm
ssh
scp
sftp
FT P clients
Email clients
Any PAM aware services

34
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4.2.2. Allowing Root Access

If the users within an organization are trusted and computer-literate, then allowing them root access may
not be an issue. Allowing root access by users means that minor activities, like adding devices or
configuring network interfaces, can be handled by the individual users, leaving system administrators free
to deal with network security and other important issues.

On the other hand, giving root access to individual users can lead to the following issues:

Machine Misconfiguration — Users with root access can misconfigure their machines and require
assistance to resolve issues. Even worse, they might open up security holes without knowing it.

Running Insecure Services — Users with root access might run insecure servers on their machine,
such as FT P or T elnet, potentially putting usernames and passwords at risk. T hese services transmit
this information over the network in plain text.

Running Email Attachments As Root — Although rare, email viruses that affect Linux do exist. T he only
time they are a threat, however, is when they are run by the root user.

Keeping the audit trail intact — Because the root account is often shared by multiple users, so that
multiple system administrators can maintain the system, it is impossible to figure out which of those
users was root at a given time. When using separate logins, the account a user logs in with, as well as
a unique number for session tracking purposes, is put into the task structure, which is inherited by
every process that the user starts. When using concurrent logins, the unique number can be used to
trace actions to specific logins. When an action generates an audit event, it is recorded with the login
account and the session associated with that unique number. Use the aulast command to view these
logins and sessions. T he --proof option of the aulast command can be used suggest a specific
ausearch query to isolate auditable events generated by a particular session. For more information
about the Audit system, see Chapter 5, System Auditing.

4.2.3. Limiting Root Access

Rather than completely denying access to the root user, the administrator may want to allow access only
via setuid programs, such as su or sudo. For more information on su and sudo, see the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide and the su(1) and sudo(8) man pages.

4.2.4. Enabling Automatic Logouts

When the user is logged in as root, an unattended login session may pose a significant security risk. T o
reduce this risk, you can configure the system to automatically log out idle users after a fixed period of
time:

1. Make sure the screen package is installed. You can do so by running the following command as
root:

yum install screen

For more information on how to install packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, see the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide.

2. As root, add the following line at the beginning of the /etc/profile file to make sure the
processing of this file cannot be interrupted:

trap "" 1 2 3 15

35
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

3. Add the following lines at the end of the /etc/profile file to start a screen session each time a
user logs in to a virtual console or remotely:

SCREENEXEC="screen"
if [ -w $(tty) ]; then
trap "exec $SCREENEXEC" 1 2 3 15
echo -n 'Starting session in 10 seconds'
sleep 10
exec $SCREENEXEC
fi

Note that each time a new session starts, a message will be displayed and the user will have to wait
ten seconds. T o adjust the time to wait before starting a session, change the value after the sleep
command.

4. Add the following lines to the /etc/screenrc configuration file to close the screen session after
a given period of inactivity:

idle 120 quit autodetach off

T his will set the time limit to 120 seconds. T o adjust this limit, change the value after the idle
directive.

Alternatively, you can configure the system to only lock the session by using the following lines
instead:

idle 120 lockscreen autodetach off

T his way, a password will be required to unlock the session.

T he changes take effect the next time a user logs in to the system.

4.2.5. Securing the Boot Loader

T he primary reasons for password protecting a Linux boot loader are as follows:

1. Preventing Access to Single User Mode — If attackers can boot the system into single user mode,
they are logged in automatically as root without being prompted for the root password.

Warning

Protecting access to single user mode with a password by editing the SINGLE parameter in
the /etc/sysconfig/init file is not recommended. An attacker can bypass the password
by specifying a custom initial command (using the init= parameter) on the kernel command
line in GRUB 2. It is recommended to password-protect the GRUB 2 boot loader, as
described in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide.

2. Preventing Access to the GRUB 2 Console — If the machine uses GRUB 2 as its boot loader, an
attacker can use the GRUB 2 editor interface to change its configuration or to gather information
using the cat command.

3. Preventing Access to Insecure Operating Systems — If it is a dual-boot system, an attacker can

select an operating system at boot time ,for example DOS, which ignores access controls and file
permissions.

36
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 ships with the GRUB 2 boot loader on the Intel 64 and AMD64 platform. For a
detailed look at GRUB 2, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide.

4 .2.5.1. Disabling Interactive Startup

Pressing the I key at the beginning of the boot sequence allows you to start up your system interactively.
During an interactive startup, the system prompts you to start up each service one by one. However, this
may allow an attacker who gains physical access to your system to disable the security-related services
and gain access to the system.

T o prevent users from starting up the system interactively, as root, disable the PROMPT parameter in the
/etc/sysconfig/init file:

PROMPT=no

4.3. Securing Services

While user access to administrative controls is an important issue for system administrators within an
organization, monitoring which network services are active is of paramount importance to anyone who
administers and operates a Linux system.

Many services under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 are network servers. If a network service is running on a
machine, then a server application (called a daemon), is listening for connections on one or more network
ports. Each of these servers should be treated as a potential avenue of attack.

4.3.1. Risks To Services

Network services can pose many risks for Linux systems. Below is a list of some of the primary issues:

Denial of Service Attacks (DoS) — By flooding a service with requests, a denial of service attack can
render a system unusable as it tries to log and answer each request.

Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) — A type of DoS attack which uses multiple compromised
machines (often numbering in the thousands or more) to direct a coordinated attack on a service,
flooding it with requests and making it unusable.

Script Vulnerability Attacks — If a server is using scripts to execute server-side actions, as Web
servers commonly do, an attacker can target improperly written scripts. T hese script vulnerability
attacks can lead to a buffer overflow condition or allow the attacker to alter files on the system.

Buffer Overflow Attacks — Services that connect to privileged ports, ports under 1023, must run as an
administrative user. If the application has an exploitable buffer overflow, an attacker could gain access
to the system as the user running the daemon. Because exploitable buffer overflows exist, crackers
use automated tools to identify systems with vulnerabilities, and once they have gained access, they
use automated rootkits to maintain their access to the system.

37
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Note

T he threat of buffer overflow vulnerabilities is mitigated in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 by

ExecShield, an executable memory segmentation and protection technology supported by x86-
compatible uni- and multi-processor kernels. ExecShield reduces the risk of buffer overflow by
separating virtual memory into executable and non-executable segments. Any program code that
tries to execute outside of the executable segment (such as malicious code injected from a buffer
overflow exploit) triggers a segmentation fault and terminates.

Execshield also includes support for No eXecute (NX) technology on AMD64 platforms and eXecute
Disable (XD) technology on Itanium and Intel® 64 systems. T hese technologies work in conjunction
with ExecShield to prevent malicious code from running in the executable portion of virtual memory
with a granularity of 4KB of executable code, lowering the risk of attack from buffer overflow
exploits.

Important

T o limit exposure to attacks over the network, all services that are unused should be turned off.

4.3.2. Identifying and Configuring Services

T o enhance security, most network services installed with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 are turned off by
default. T here are, however, some notable exceptions:

cups — T he default print server for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

cups-lpd — An alternative print server.

xinetd — A super server that controls connections to a range of subordinate servers, such as
gssftp and telnet.

sshd — T he OpenSSH server, which is a secure replacement for T elnet.

When determining whether to leave these services running, it is best to use common sense and avoid
taking any risks. For example, if a printer is not available, do not leave cups running. T he same is true for
portreserve. If you do not mount NFSv3 volumes or use NIS (the ypbind service), then rpcbind
should be disabled. Checking which network services are available to start at boot time is not sufficient. It
is recommended to also check which ports are open and listening. Refer to Section 4.4.2, “Verifying Which
Ports Are Listening” for more information.

4.3.3. Insecure Services

Potentially, any network service is insecure. T his is why turning off unused services is so important.
Exploits for services are routinely revealed and patched, making it very important to regularly update
packages associated with any network service. See Chapter 3, Keeping Your System Up-to-Date for more
information.

Some network protocols are inherently more insecure than others. T hese include any services that:

Transmit Usernames and Passwords Over a Network Unencrypted — Many older protocols, such as
T elnet and FT P, do not encrypt the authentication session and should be avoided whenever possible.

38
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Transmit Sensitive Data Over a Network Unencrypted — Many protocols transmit data over the network
unencrypted. T hese protocols include T elnet, FT P, HT T P, and SMT P. Many network file systems, such
as NFS and SMB, also transmit information over the network unencrypted. It is the user's responsibility
when using these protocols to limit what type of data is transmitted.

Examples of inherently insecure services include rlogin, rsh, and telnet, and vsftpd.

All remote login and shell programs (rlogin, rsh, and telnet) should be avoided in favor of SSH. See
Section 4.3.10, “Securing SSH” for more information about sshd.

FT P is not as inherently dangerous to the security of the system as remote shells, but FT P servers must
be carefully configured and monitored to avoid problems. See Section 4.3.8, “Securing FT P” for more
information about securing FT P servers.

Services that should be carefully implemented and behind a firewall include:

auth

nfs-server

sm b and nbm (Samba)

yppasswdd

ypserv

ypxfrd

More information on securing network services is available in Section 4.4, “Securing Network Access”.

4.3.4. Securing rpcbind

T he rpcbind service is a dynamic port assignment daemon for RPC services such as NIS and NFS. It
has weak authentication mechanisms and has the ability to assign a wide range of ports for the services it
controls. For these reasons, it is difficult to secure.

Note

Securing rpcbind only affects NFSv2 and NFSv3 implementations, since NFSv4 no longer
requires it. If you plan to implement an NFSv2 or NFSv3 server, then rpcbind is required, and the
following section applies.

If running RPC services, follow these basic rules.

4 .3.4 .1. Protect rpcbind With T CP Wrappers

It is important to use T CP Wrappers to limit which networks or hosts have access to the rpcbind service
since it has no built-in form of authentication.

Further, use only IP addresses when limiting access to the service. Avoid using hostnames, as they can
be forged by DNS poisoning and other methods.

4 .3.4 .2. Protect rpcbind With firewalld

T o further restrict access to the rpcbind service, it is a good idea to add firewalld rules to the server
and restrict access to specific networks.

39
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Below are two example firewalld Rich T ext commands. T he first allows T CP connections to the port
111 (used by the rpcbind service) from the 192.168.0.0/24 network. T he second allows T CP
connections to the same port from the localhost. All other packets are dropped.

~]# firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" port port="111"

protocol="tcp" source address="192.168.0.0/24" invert="True" drop'
~]# firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" port port="111"
protocol="tcp" source address="127.0.0.1" accept'

T o similarly limit UDP traffic, use the following command:

~]# firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" port port="111"

protocol="udp" source address="192.168.0.0/24" invert="True" drop'

Note

Add --perm anent to the firewalld Rich T ext commands to make the settings permanent. See
Section 4.5, “Using Firewalls” for more information about implementing firewalls.

4.3.5. Securing NIS

T he Network Information Service (NIS) is an RPC service, called ypserv, which is used in conjunction with
rpcbind and other related services to distribute maps of usernames, passwords, and other sensitive
information to any computer claiming to be within its domain.

A NIS server is comprised of several applications. T hey include the following:

/usr/sbin/rpc.yppasswdd — Also called the yppasswdd service, this daemon allows users to
change their NIS passwords.

/usr/sbin/rpc.ypxfrd — Also called the ypxfrd service, this daemon is responsible for NIS map
transfers over the network.

/usr/sbin/ypserv — T his is the NIS server daemon.

NIS is somewhat insecure by today's standards. It has no host authentication mechanisms and transmits
all of its information over the network unencrypted, including password hashes. As a result, extreme care
must be taken when setting up a network that uses NIS. T his is further complicated by the fact that the
default configuration of NIS is inherently insecure.

It is recommended that anyone planning to implement a NIS server first secure the rpcbind service as
outlined in Section 4.3.4, “Securing rpcbind”, then address the following issues, such as network planning.

4 .3.5.1. Carefully Plan the Network

Because NIS transmits sensitive information unencrypted over the network, it is important the service be
run behind a firewall and on a segmented and secure network. Whenever NIS information is transmitted
over an insecure network, it risks being intercepted. Careful network design can help prevent severe
security breaches.

4 .3.5.2. Use a Password-like NIS Domain Name and Hostname

Any machine within a NIS domain can use commands to extract information from the server without
authentication, as long as the user knows the NIS server's DNS hostname and NIS domain name.

40
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

For instance, if someone either connects a laptop computer into the network or breaks into the network
from outside (and manages to spoof an internal IP address), the following command reveals the
/etc/passwd map:

ypcat -d <NIS_domain> -h <DNS_hostname> passwd

If this attacker is a root user, they can obtain the /etc/shadow file by typing the following command:

ypcat -d <NIS_domain> -h <DNS_hostname> shadow

Note

If Kerberos is used, the /etc/shadow file is not stored within a NIS map.

T o make access to NIS maps harder for an attacker, create a random string for the DNS hostname, such
as o7hfawtgm hwg.dom ain.com . Similarly, create a different randomized NIS domain name. T his makes
it much more difficult for an attacker to access the NIS server.

4 .3.5.3. Edit the /var/yp/securenets File

If the /var/yp/securenets file is blank or does not exist (as is the case after a default installation), NIS
listens to all networks. One of the first things to do is to put netmask/network pairs in the file so that
ypserv only responds to requests from the appropriate network.

Below is a sample entry from a /var/yp/securenets file:

255.255.255.0 192.168.0.0

Warning

Never start a NIS server for the first time without creating the /var/yp/securenets file.

T his technique does not provide protection from an IP spoofing attack, but it does at least place limits on
what networks the NIS server services.

4 .3.5.4 . Assign Static Ports and Use Rich T ext Rules

All of the servers related to NIS can be assigned specific ports except for rpc.yppasswdd — the daemon
that allows users to change their login passwords. Assigning ports to the other two NIS server daemons,
rpc.ypxfrd and ypserv, allows for the creation of firewall rules to further protect the NIS server
daemons from intruders.

T o do this, add the following lines to /etc/sysconfig/network:

YPSERV_ARGS="-p 834"
YPXFRD_ARGS="-p 835"

T he following rich text firewalld rules can then be used to enforce which network the server listens to
for these ports:

41
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

~]# firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source

address="192.168.0.0/24" invert="True" port port="834-835" protocol="tcp"
drop'
~]# firewall-cmd --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source
address="192.168.0.0/24" invert="True" port port="834-835" protocol="udp"
drop'

T his means that the server only allows connections to ports 834 and 835 if the requests come from the
192.168.0.0/24 network. T he first rule is for T CP and the second for UDP.

Note

See Section 4.5, “Using Firewalls” for more information about implementing firewalls with iptables
commands.

4 .3.5.5. Use Kerberos Authentication

One of the issues to consider when NIS is used for authentication is that whenever a user logs into a
machine, a password hash from the /etc/shadow map is sent over the network. If an intruder gains
access to a NIS domain and sniffs network traffic, they can collect usernames and password hashes. With
enough time, a password cracking program can guess weak passwords, and an attacker can gain access
to a valid account on the network.

Since Kerberos uses secret-key cryptography, no password hashes are ever sent over the network,
making the system far more secure. See the Linux Domain Identity, Authentication, and Policy Guide for
more information about Kerberos.

4.3.6. Securing NFS

Important

NFS traffic can be sent using T CP in all versions, it should be used with NFSv3, rather than UDP,
and is required when using NFSv4. All versions of NFS support Kerberos user and group
authentication, as part of the RPCSEC_GSS kernel module. Information on rpcbind is still included,
since Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 supports NFSv3 which utilizes rpcbind.

4 .3.6.1. Carefully Plan the Network

NFSv2 and NFSv3 traditionally passed data insecurely. All versions of NFS now have the ability to
authenticate (and optionally encrypt) ordinary file system operations using Kerberos. Under NFSv4 all
operations can use Kerberos; under v2 or v3, file locking and mounting still do not use it. When using
NFSv4.0, delegations may be turned off if the clients are behind NAT or a firewall. For information on the
use of NFSv4.1 to allow delegations to operate through NAT and firewalls, see the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 Storage Administration Guide.

4 .3.6.2. Securing NFS Mount Options

T he use of the m ount command in the /etc/fstab file is explained in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Storage Administration Guide. From a security administration point of view it is worthwhile to note that the
NFS mount options can also be specified in /etc/nfsm ount.conf, which can be used to set custom
default options.

4 .3.6.2.1. Review the NFS Server

42
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Warning

Only export entire file systems. Exporting a subdirectory of a file system can be a security issue. It
is possible in some cases for a client to "break out" of the exported part of the file system and get
to unexported parts (see the section on subtree checking in the exports(5) man page.

Use the ro option to export the file system as read-only whenever possible to reduce the number of users
able to write to the mounted file system. Only use the rw option when specifically required. See the man
exports(5) page for more information. Allowing write access increases the risk from symlink attacks for
example. T his includes temporary directories such as /tm p and /usr/tm p.

Where directories must be mounted with the rw option avoid making them world-writable whenever
possible to reduce risk. Exporting home directories is also viewed as a risk as some applications store
passwords in clear text or weakly encrypted. T his risk is being reduced as application code is reviewed
and improved. Some users do not set passwords on their SSH keys so this too means home directories
present a risk. Enforcing the use of passwords or using Kerberos would mitigate that risk.

Restrict exports only to clients that need access. Use the showm ount -e command on an NFS server to
review what the server is exporting. Do not export anything that is not specifically required.

Do not use the no_root_squash option and review existing installations to make sure it is not used. See
Section 4.3.6.4, “Do Not Use the no_root_squash Option” for more information.

T he secure option is the server-side export option used to restrict exports to “reserved” ports. By default,
the server allows client communication only from “reserved” ports (ports numbered less than 1024),
because traditionally clients have only allowed “trusted” code (such as in-kernel NFS clients) to use those
ports. However, on many networks it is not difficult for anyone to become root on some client, so it is rarely
safe for the server to assume that communication from a reserved port is privileged. T herefore the
restriction to reserved ports is of limited value; it is better to rely on Kerberos, firewalls, and restriction of
exports to particular clients.

Most clients still do use reserved ports when possible. However, reserved ports are a limited resource, so
clients (especially those with a large number of NFS mounts) may choose to use higher-numbered ports
as well. Linux clients may do this using the “noresvport” mount option. If you wish to allow this on an
export, you may do so with the “insecure” export option.

It is good practice not to allow users to login to a server. While reviewing the above settings on an NFS
server conduct a review of who and what can access the server.

4 .3.6.2.2. Review the NFS Client

Use the nosuid option to disallow the use of a setuid program. T he nosuid option disables the set-
user-identifier or set-group-identifier bits. T his prevents remote users from gaining higher
privileges by running a setuid program. Use this option on the client and the server side.

T he noexec option disables all executable files on the client. Use this to prevent users from inadvertently
executing files placed in the file system being shared. T he nosuid and noexec options are standard
options for most, if not all, file systems.

Use the nodev option to prevent “device-files” from being processed as a hardware device by the client.

T he resvport option is a client-side mount option and secure is the corresponding server-side export
option (see explanation above). It restricts communication to a "reserved port". T he reserved or "well
known" ports are reserved for privileged users and processes such as the root user. Setting this option
causes the client to use a reserved source port to communicate with the server.

43
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

All versions of NFS now support mounting with Kerberos authentication. T he mount option to enable this
is: sec=krb5.

NFSv4 supports mounting with Kerberos using krb5i for integrity and krb5p for privacy protection.
T hese are used when mounting with sec=krb5, but need to be configured on the NFS server. See the
man page on exports (m an 5 exports) for more information.

T he NFS man page (m an 5 nfs) has a “SECURIT Y CONSIDERAT IONS” section which explains the
security enhancements in NFSv4 and contains all the NFS specific mount options.

4 .3.6.3. Beware of Syntax Errors

T he NFS server determines which file systems to export and which hosts to export these directories to by
consulting the /etc/exports file. Be careful not to add extraneous spaces when editing this file.

For instance, the following line in the /etc/exports file shares the directory /tm p/nfs/ to the host
bob.exam ple.com with read/write permissions.

/tmp/nfs/ bob.example.com(rw)

T he following line in the /etc/exports file, on the other hand, shares the same directory to the host
bob.exam ple.com with read-only permissions and shares it to the world with read/write permissions
due to a single space character after the hostname.

/tmp/nfs/ bob.example.com (rw)

It is good practice to check any configured NFS shares by using the showm ount command to verify what
is being shared:

showmount -e <hostname>

4 .3.6.4 . Do Not Use the no_root_squash Option

By default, NFS shares change the root user to the nfsnobody user, an unprivileged user account. T his
changes the owner of all root-created files to nfsnobody, which prevents uploading of programs with the
setuid bit set.

If no_root_squash is used, remote root users are able to change any file on the shared file system and
leave applications infected by T rojans for other users to inadvertently execute.

4 .3.6.5. NFS Firewall Configuration

NFSv4 is the default version of NFS for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and it only requires port 2049 to be
open for T CP. If using NFSv3 then four additional ports are required as explained below.

Configuring Ports for NFSv3

T he ports used for NFS are assigned dynamically by rpcbind, which can cause problems when creating
firewall rules. T o simplify this process, use the /etc/sysconfig/nfs file to specify which ports are to be used:

MOUNT D_PORT — T CP and UDP port for mountd (rpc.mountd)

ST AT D_PORT — T CP and UDP port for status (rpc.statd)

44
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

LOCKD_T CPPORT — T CP port for nlockmgr (rpc.lockd)

LOCKD_UDPPORT — UDP port nlockmgr (rpc.lockd)

Port numbers specified must not be used by any other service. Configure your firewall to allow the port
numbers specified, as well as T CP and UDP port 2049 (NFS).

Run the rpcinfo -p command on the NFS server to see which ports and RPC programs are being used.

4.3.7. Securing the Apache HTTP Server

T he Apache HT T P Server is one of the most stable and secure services that ships with Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7. A large number of options and techniques are available to secure the Apache HT T P
Server — too numerous to delve into deeply here. T he following section briefly explains good practices
when running the Apache HT T P Server.

Always verify that any scripts running on the system work as intended before putting them into production.
Also, ensure that only the root user has write permissions to any directory containing scripts or CGIs. T o
do this, run the following commands as the root user:

chown root <directory_name>

chmod 755 <directory_name>

System administrators should be careful when using the following configuration options (configured in
/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf):

FollowSym Links

T his directive is enabled by default, so be sure to use caution when creating symbolic links to the
document root of the Web server. For instance, it is a bad idea to provide a symbolic link to /.

Indexes

T his directive is enabled by default, but may not be desirable. T o prevent visitors from browsing
files on the server, remove this directive.

UserDir

T he UserDir directive is disabled by default because it can confirm the presence of a user
account on the system. T o enable user directory browsing on the server, use the following
directives:

UserDir enabled
UserDir disabled root

T hese directives activate user directory browsing for all user directories other than /root/. T o
add users to the list of disabled accounts, add a space-delimited list of users on the UserDir
disabled line.

ServerT okens

T he ServerT okens directive controls the server response header field which is sent back to
clients. It includes various information which can be customized using the following parameters:

45
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

ServerT okens Full (default option) — provides all available information (OS type and
used modules), for example:

Apache/2.0.41 (Unix) PHP/4.2.2 MyMod/1.2

ServerT okens Prod or ServerT okens ProductOnly — provides the following

information:

Apache

ServerT okens Major — provides the following information:

Apache/2

ServerT okens Minor — provides the following information:

Apache/2.0

ServerT okens Min or ServerT okens Minim al — provides the following information:

Apache/2.0.41

ServerT okens OS — provides the following information:

Apache/2.0.41 (Unix)

It is recommended to use the ServerT okens Prod option so that a possible attacker does not
gain any valuable information about your system.

Important

Do not remove the IncludesNoExec directive. By default, the Server-Side Includes (SSI) module
cannot execute commands. It is recommended that you do not change this setting unless absolutely
necessary, as it could, potentially, enable an attacker to execute commands on the system.

Removing httpd Modules

In certain scenarios, it is beneficial to remove certain httpd modules to limit the functionality of the HT T P
Server. T o do so, simply comment out the entire line which loads the module you wish to remove in the
/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf file. For example, to remove the proxy module, comment out the
following line by prepending it with a hash sign:

#LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so

Note that the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ directory contains configuration files which are used to load
modules as well.

httpd and SELinux

For information, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 SELinux User's and Administrator's Guide.

46
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4.3.8. Securing FTP

T he File Transfer Protocol (FT P) is an older T CP protocol designed to transfer files over a network.
Because all transactions with the server, including user authentication, are unencrypted, it is considered
an insecure protocol and should be carefully configured.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 provides two FT P servers:

Red Hat Content Accelerator (tux) — A kernel-space Web server with FT P capabilities.

vsftpd — A standalone, security oriented implementation of the FT P service.

T he following security guidelines are for setting up the vsftpd FT P service.

4 .3.8.1. FT P Greeting Banner

Before submitting a username and password, all users are presented with a greeting banner. By default,
this banner includes version information useful to crackers trying to identify weaknesses in a system.

T o change the greeting banner for vsftpd, add the following directive to the
/etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file:

ftpd_banner=<insert_greeting_here>

Replace <insert_greeting_here> in the above directive with the text of the greeting message.

For mutli-line banners, it is best to use a banner file. T o simplify management of multiple banners, place all
banners in a new directory called /etc/banners/. T he banner file for FT P connections in this example is
/etc/banners/ftp.m sg. Below is an example of what such a file may look like:

######### Hello, all activity on ftp.example.com is logged. #########

Note

It is not necessary to begin each line of the file with 220 as specified in Section 4.4.1, “Securing
Services With T CP Wrappers and xinetd”.

T o reference this greeting banner file for vsftpd, add the following directive to the
/etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file:

banner_file=/etc/banners/ftp.msg

It also is possible to send additional banners to incoming connections using T CP Wrappers as described
in Section 4.4.1.1, “T CP Wrappers and Connection Banners”.

4 .3.8.2. Anonymous Access

T he presence of the /var/ftp/ directory activates the anonymous account.

T he easiest way to create this directory is to install the vsftpd package. T his package establishes a
directory tree for anonymous users and configures the permissions on directories to read-only for
anonymous users.

By default the anonymous user cannot write to any directories.

47
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Warning

If enabling anonymous access to an FT P server, be aware of where sensitive data is stored.

4 .3.8.2.1. Anonymous Upload

T o allow anonymous users to upload files, it is recommended that a write-only directory be created within
/var/ftp/pub/. T o do this, run the following command as root:

~]# mkdir /var/ftp/pub/upload

Next, change the permissions so that anonymous users cannot view the contents of the directory:

~]# chmod 730 /var/ftp/pub/upload

A long format listing of the directory should look like this:

~]# ls -ld /var/ftp/pub/upload

drwx-wx---. 2 root ftp 4096 Nov 14 22:57 /var/ftp/pub/upload

Administrators who allow anonymous users to read and write in directories often find that their servers
become a repository of stolen software.

Additionally, under vsftpd, add the following line to the /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file:

anon_upload_enable=YES

4 .3.8.3. User Accounts

Because FT P transmits unencrypted usernames and passwords over insecure networks for
authentication, it is a good idea to deny system users access to the server from their user accounts.

T o disable all user accounts in vsftpd, add the following directive to /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf:

local_enable=NO

4 .3.8.3.1. Restricting User Accounts

T o disable FT P access for specific accounts or specific groups of accounts, such as the root user and
those with sudo privileges, the easiest way is to use a PAM list file as described in Section 4.2.1,
“Disallowing Root Access”. T he PAM configuration file for vsftpd is /etc/pam .d/vsftpd.

It is also possible to disable user accounts within each service directly.

T o disable specific user accounts in vsftpd, add the username to /etc/vsftpd/ftpusers

4 .3.8.4 . Use T CP Wrappers T o Control Access

Use T CP Wrappers to control access to either FT P daemon as outlined in Section 4.4.1, “Securing
Services With T CP Wrappers and xinetd”.

4.3.9. Securing Postfix

48
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Postfix is a Mail T ransfer Agent (MT A) that uses the Simple Mail T ransfer Protocol (SMT P) to deliver
electronic messages between other MT As and to email clients or delivery agents. Although many MT As
are capable of encrypting traffic between one another, most do not, so sending email over any public
networks is considered an inherently insecure form of communication. Postfix replaces Sendmail as the
default MT A in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

It is recommended that anyone planning to implement a Postfix server address the following issues.

4 .3.9.1. Limiting a Denial of Service Attack

Because of the nature of email, a determined attacker can flood the server with mail fairly easily and cause
a denial of service. T he effectiveness of such attacks can be limited by setting limits of the directives in the
/etc/postfix/m ain.cf file. You can change the value of the directives which are already there or you
can add the directives you need with the value you want in the following format:

<directive> = <value>

. T he following is a list of directives that can be used for limiting a denial of service attack:

sm tpd_client_connection_rate_lim it — T he maximum number of connection attempts any

client is allowed to make to this service per time unit (described below). T he default value is 0, which
means a client can make as many connections per time unit as Postfix can accept. By default, clients in
trusted networks are excluded.

anvil_rate_tim e_unit — T his time unit is used for rate limit calculations. T he default value is 60
seconds.

sm tpd_client_event_lim it_exceptions — Clients that are excluded from the connection and
rate limit commands. By default, clients in trusted networks are excluded.

sm tpd_client_m essage_rate_lim it — T he maximum number of message deliveries a client is

allowed to request per time unit (regardless of whether or not Postfix actually accepts those
messages).

default_process_lim it — T he default maximum number of Postfix child processes that provide a

given service. T his limit can be overruled for specific services in the m aster.cf file. By default the
value is 100.

queue_m infree — T he minimum amount of free space in bytes in the queue file system that is
needed to receive mail. T his is currently used by the Postfix SMT P server to decide if it will accept any
mail at all. By default, the Postfix SMT P server rejects MAIL FROM commands when the amount of free
space is less than 1.5 times the message_size_limit. T o specify a higher minimum free space limit,
specify a queue_minfree value that is at least 1.5 times the message_size_limit. By default the
queue_minfree value is 0.

header_size_lim it — T he maximum amount of memory in bytes for storing a message header. If a

header is larger, the excess is discarded. By default the value is 102400.

m essage_size_lim it — T he maximum size in bytes of a message, including envelope information.

By default the value is 10240000.

4 .3.9.2. NFS and Postfix

Never put the mail spool directory, /var/spool/postfix/, on an NFS shared volume. Because NFSv2
and NFSv3 do not maintain control over user and group IDs, two or more users can have the same UID,
and receive and read each other's mail.

49
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Note

With NFSv4 using Kerberos, this is not the case, since the SECRPC_GSS kernel module does not
utilize UID-based authentication. However, it is still considered good practice not to put the mail
spool directory on NFS shared volumes.

4 .3.9.3. Mail-only Users

T o help prevent local user exploits on the Postfix server, it is best for mail users to only access the Postfix
server using an email program. Shell accounts on the mail server should not be allowed and all user shells
in the /etc/passwd file should be set to /sbin/nologin (with the possible exception of the root user).

4 .3.9.4 . Disable Postfix Network Listening

By default, Postfix is set up to only listen to the local loopback address. You can verify this by viewing the
file /etc/postfix/m ain.cf.

View the file /etc/postfix/m ain.cf to ensure that only the following inet_interfaces line appears:

inet_interfaces = localhost

T his ensures that Postfix only accepts mail messages (such as cron job reports) from the local system
and not from the network. T his is the default setting and protects Postfix from a network attack.

For removal of the localhost restriction and allowing Postfix to listen on all interfaces the
inet_interfaces = all setting can be used.

4.3.10. Securing SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) is a powerful network protocol used to communicate with another system over a
secure channel. T he transmissions over SSH are encrypted and protected from interception. See the
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide for general information about the SSH protocol
and about using the SSH service in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Important

T his section draws attention to the most common ways of securing an SSH setup. By no means
should this list of suggested measures be considered exhaustive or definitive. See
sshd_config(5) for a description of all configuration directives available for modifying the
behavior of the sshd daemon and to ssh(1) for an explanation of basic SSH concepts.

4 .3.10.1. Cryptographic Login

SSH supports the use of cryptographic keys for logging in to computers. T his is much more secure than
using only a password. If you combine this method with other authentication methods, it can be considered
a multi-factor authentication. See Section 4.3.10.2, “Multiple Authentication Methods” for more information
about using multiple authentication methods.

50
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

In order to enable the use of cryptographic keys for authentication, the PubkeyAuthentication
configuration directive in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file needs to be set to yes. Note that this is the
default setting. Set the PasswordAuthentication directive to no to disable the possibility of using
passwords for logging in.

SSH keys can be generated using the ssh-keygen command. If invoked without additional arguments, it
creates a 2048-bit RSA key set. T he keys are stored, by default, in the ~/.ssh directory. You can utilize
the -b switch to modify the bit-strength of the key. Using 2048-bit keys is normally sufficient. T he Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide includes detailed information about generating key pairs.

You should see the two keys in your ~/.ssh directory. If you accepted the defaults when running the ssh-
keygen command, then the generated files are named id_rsa and id_rsa.pub and contain the private
and public key respectively. You should always protect the private key from exposure by making it
unreadable by anyone else but the file's owner. T he public key, however, needs to be transferred to the
system you are going to log in to. You can use the ssh-copy-id command to transfer the key to the
server:

~]$ ssh-copy-id -i [user@]server

T his command will also automatically append the public key to the ~/.ssh/authorized_key file on the
server. T he sshd daemon will check this file when you attempt to log in to the server.

Similarly to passwords and any other authentication mechanism, you should change your SSH keys
regularly. When you do, make sure you remove any unused keys from the authorized_key file.

4 .3.10.2. Multiple Authentication Methods

Using multiple authentication methods, or multi-factor authentication, increases the level of protection
against unauthorized access, and as such should be considered when hardening a system to prevent it
from being compromised. Users attempting to log in to a system that uses multi-factor authentication must
successfully complete all specified authentication methods in order to be granted access.

Use the AuthenticationMethods configuration directive in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file to

specify which authentication methods are to be utilized. Note that it is possible to define more than one list
of required authentication methods using this directive. If that is the case, the user must complete every
method in at least one of the lists. T he lists need to be separated by blank spaces, and the individual
authentication-method names within the lists must be comma-separated. For example:

AuthenticationMethods publickey,gssapi-with-mic publickey,keyboard-interactive

An sshd daemon configured using the above AuthenticationMethods directive only grants access if
the user attempting to log in successfully completes either publickey authentication followed by
gssapi-with-m ic or by keyboard-interactive authentication. Note that each of the requested
authentication methods needs to be explicitly enabled using a corresponding configuration directive (such
as PubkeyAuthentication) in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. See the AUTHENTICATION section
of ssh(1) for a general list of available authentication methods.

4 .3.10.3. Other Ways of Securing SSH

Protocol Version

51
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Even though the implementation of the SSH protocol supplied with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 supports
both the SSH-1 and SSH-2 versions of the protocol, only the latter should be used whenever possible. T he
SSH-2 version contains a number of improvements over the older SSH-1, and the majority of advanced
configuration options is only available when using SSH-2.

Users are encouraged to make use of SSH-2 in order to maximize the extent to which the SSH protocol
protects the authentication and communication for which it is used. T he version or versions of the protocol
supported by the sshd daemon can be specified using the Protocol configuration directive in the
/etc/ssh/sshd_config file. T he default setting is 2.

Key T ypes

While the ssh-keygen command generates a pair of SSH-2 RSA keys by default, using the -t option, it
can be instructed to generate DSA or ECDSA keys as well. T he ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature
Algorithm) offers better performance at the same equivalent symmetric key length. It also generates
shorter keys.

Non-Default Port

By default, the sshd daemon listens on the 22 network port. Changing the port reduces the exposure of
the system to attacks based on automated network scanning, thus increasing security through obscurity.
T he port can be specified using the Port directive in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config configuration file.
Note also that the default SELinux policy must be changed to allow for the use of a non-default port. You
can do this by modifying the ssh_port_t SELinux type by typing the following command as root:

~]# semanage -a -t ssh_port_t -p tcp port_number

In the above command, replace port_number with the new port number specified using the Port directive.

No Root Login

Provided that your particular use case does not require the possibility of logging in as the root user, you
should consider setting the Perm itRootLogin configuration directive to no in the
/etc/ssh/sshd_config file. By disabling the possibility of logging in as the root user, the
administrator can audit which user runs what privileged command after they log in as regular users and
then gain root rights.

4.4. Securing Network Access

4.4.1. Securing Services With TCP Wrappers and xinetd

T CP Wrappers are capable of much more than denying access to services. T his section illustrates how
they can be used to send connection banners, warn of attacks from particular hosts, and enhance logging
functionality. See the hosts_options(5) man page for information about the T CP Wrapper functionality
and control language. See the xinetd.conf(5) man page for the available flags, which act as options
you can apply to a service.

4 .4 .1.1. T CP Wrappers and Connection Banners

Displaying a suitable banner when users connect to a service is a good way to let potential attackers know
that the system administrator is being vigilant. You can also control what information about the system is
presented to users. T o implement a T CP Wrappers banner for a service, use the banner option.

52
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T his example implements a banner for vsftpd. T o begin, create a banner file. It can be anywhere on the
system, but it must have same name as the daemon. For this example, the file is called
/etc/banners/vsftpd and contains the following lines:

220-Hello, %c
220-All activity on ftp.example.com is logged.
220-Inappropriate use will result in your access privileges being removed.

T he %c token supplies a variety of client information, such as the username and hostname, or the
username and IP address to make the connection even more intimidating.

For this banner to be displayed to incoming connections, add the following line to the /etc/hosts.allow
file:

vsftpd : ALL : banners /etc/banners/

4 .4 .1.2. T CP Wrappers and Attack Warnings

If a particular host or network has been detected attacking the server, T CP Wrappers can be used to warn
the administrator of subsequent attacks from that host or network using the spawn directive.

In this example, assume that a cracker from the 206.182.68.0/24 network has been detected attempting to
attack the server. Place the following line in the /etc/hosts.deny file to deny any connection attempts
from that network, and to log the attempts to a special file:

ALL : 206.182.68.0 : spawn /bin/echo `date` %c %d >> /var/log/intruder_alert

T he %d token supplies the name of the service that the attacker was trying to access.

T o allow the connection and log it, place the spawn directive in the /etc/hosts.allow file.

Note

Because the spawn directive executes any shell command, it is a good idea to create a special
script to notify the administrator or execute a chain of commands in the event that a particular client
attempts to connect to the server.

4 .4 .1.3. T CP Wrappers and Enhanced Logging

If certain types of connections are of more concern than others, the log level can be elevated for that
service using the severity option.

For this example, assume that anyone attempting to connect to port 23 (the T elnet port) on an FT P server
is a cracker. T o denote this, place an em erg flag in the log files instead of the default flag, info, and
deny the connection.

T o do this, place the following line in /etc/hosts.deny:

in.telnetd : ALL : severity emerg

T his uses the default authpriv logging facility, but elevates the priority from the default value of info to
em erg, which posts log messages directly to the console.

53
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

4.4.2. Verifying Which Ports Are Listening

Unnecessary open ports should be avoided because it increases the attack surface of your system. If
after the system has been in service you find unexpected open ports in listening state, that might be signs
of intrusion and it should be investigated.

Issue the following command, as root, from the console to determine which ports are listening for
connections from the network:

~]# netstat -pan -A inet,inet6 | grep -v ESTABLISHED

Active Internet connections (servers and established)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State PID/Program
name
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:111 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 1608/rpcbind
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2581/unbound
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2048/sshd
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:631 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 3202/cupsd
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:54136 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
2279/rpc.statd
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:25 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2708/master
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:8953 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2581/unbound
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:8955 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2634/dnssec-
trigger
tcp6 0 0 :::111 :::* LISTEN 1608/rpcbind
tcp6 0 0 :::60881 :::* LISTEN
2279/rpc.statd
tcp6 0 0 ::1:53 :::* LISTEN 2581/unbound
tcp6 0 0 :::22 :::* LISTEN 2048/sshd
tcp6 0 0 ::1:631 :::* LISTEN 3202/cupsd
tcp6 0 0 ::1:25 :::* LISTEN 2708/master
tcp6 0 0 ::1:8953 :::* LISTEN 2581/unbound
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:766 0.0.0.0:*
2279/rpc.statd
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:59186 0.0.0.0:* 674/avahi-
daemon: r
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:33639 0.0.0.0:*
2279/rpc.statd
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:889 0.0.0.0:* 1608/rpcbind
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:* 2581/unbound
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:68 0.0.0.0:* 2642/dhclient
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:111 0.0.0.0:* 1608/rpcbind
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:46198 0.0.0.0:* 2642/dhclient
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:123 0.0.0.0:* 697/chronyd
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:5353 0.0.0.0:* 674/avahi-
daemon: r
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:323 0.0.0.0:* 697/chronyd
udp6 0 0 :::3885 :::*
2642/dhclient
udp6 0 0 :::889 :::* 1608/rpcbind
udp6 0 0 ::1:53 :::* 2581/unbound
udp6 0 0 :::111 :::* 1608/rpcbind
udp6 0 0 :::123 :::* 697/chronyd
udp6 0 0 ::1:323 :::* 697/chronyd
udp6 0 0 :::33235 :::*
2279/rpc.statd
raw6 0 0 :::58 :::* 7
2612/NetworkManager

Note that at time of writing the -l option does not list SCT P servers.

Review the output of the command with the services needed on the system, turn off what is not specifically

54
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

required or authorized, repeat the check. Proceed then to make external checks using nmap from another
system connected via the network to the first system. T his can be used verify the rules in iptables. Make
a scan for every IP address shown in the ss output (except for localhost 127.0.0.0 or ::1 range) from an
external system. Use the -6 option for scanning an IPv6 address. See m an nm ap(1) for more
information.

T he following is an example of the command to be issued from the console of another system to determine
which ports are listening for T CP connections from the network:

~]# nmap -sT -O 192.168.122.1

See the man pages for ss, nm ap, and services for more information.

4.4.3. Disabling Source Routing

Source routing is an Internet Protocol mechanism that allows an IP packet to carry information, a list of
addresses, that tells a router the path the packet must take. T here is also an option to record the hops as
the route is traversed. T he list of hops taken, the "route record", provides the destination with a return
path to the source. T his allows the source (the sending host) to specify the route, loosely or strictly,
ignoring the routing tables of some or all of the routers. It can allow a user to redirect network traffic for
malicious purposes. T herefore, source-based routing should be disabled.

T he accept_source_route option causes network interfaces to accept packets with the Strict Source
Route (SSR) or Loose Source Routing (LSR) option set. T he acceptance of source routed packets is
controlled by sysctl settings. Issue the following command as root to drop packets with the SSR or LSR
option set:

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route=0

Disabling the forwarding of packets should also be done in conjunction with the above when possible
(disabling forwarding may interfere with virtualization). Issue the commands listed below as root:

T hese commands disable forwarding of IPv4 and IPv6 packets on all interfaces.

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.forwarding=0

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=0

T hese commands disable forwarding of all multicast packets on all interfaces.

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.mc_forwarding=0

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.mc_forwarding=0

Accepting ICMP redirects has few legitimate uses. Disable the acceptance and sending of ICMP redirected
packets unless specifically required.

T hese commands disable acceptance of all ICMP redirected packets on all interfaces.

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_redirects=0

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_redirects=0

T his command disables acceptance of secure ICMP redirected packets on all interfaces.

55
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.secure_redirects=0

T his command disables acceptance of all IPv4 ICMP redirected packets on all interfaces.

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.send_redirects=0

T here is only a directive to disable sending of IPv4 redirected packets. See RFC4294 for an explanation of
“IPv6 Node Requirements” which resulted in this difference between IPv4 and IPv6.

In order to make the settings permanent they must be added to /etc/sysctl.conf.

See the sysctl man page, sysctl(8), for more information. See RFC791 for an explanation of the Internet
options related to source based routing and its variants.

Warning

Ethernet networks provide additional ways to redirect traffic, such as ARP or MAC address
spoofing, unauthorized DHCP servers, and IPv6 router or neighbor advertisements. In addition,
unicast traffic is occasionally broadcast, causing information leaks. T hese weaknesses can only be
addressed by specific countermeasures implemented by the network operator. Host-based
countermeasures are not fully effective.

4.4.4. Reverse Path Filtering

Reverse path filtering is used to prevent packets which arrived via one interface from leaving via a different
interface. When outgoing routes and incoming routes are different it is sometimes referred to as
“asymmetric routing”. Routers often route packets this way but most hosts should not need to do this.
Exceptions are such applications as sending traffic out over one link and receiving traffic over another link
from a different service provider. For example, using leased lines in combination with xDSL, or Satellite
links with 3G modems. If such a scenario is applicable to you then turning off reverse path filtering on the
incoming interface is necessary. In short, unless you know that it is required, it is best disabled as it
prevents users spoofing IP addresses from local subnets and reduces the opportunity for DDoS attacks.

Note

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 defaults to using Strict Reverse Path filtering following the “Strict
Reverse Path” recommendation from RFC 3704, Ingress Filtering for Multihomed Networks. T his
currently only applies to IPv4.

Warning

If forwarding is enabled, then Reverse Path Filtering should only be disabled if there are other
means for source address validation (such as iptables rules for example).

rp_filter

Reverse Path Filter is enabled by means of the rp_filter directive. T he rp_filter option is
used to direct the kernel to select from one of three modes.

It takes the following form when setting the default behavior:

56
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

~]# /sbin/sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter=INTEGER

where INTEGER is one of the following:

0 — No source validation.

1 — Strict mode as defined in RFC3704.

2 — Loose mode as defined in RFC3704.

T he setting can be overridden per network interface using net.ipv4 .interface.rp_filter.

T o make these settings persistent across reboot, modify the /etc/sysctl.conf file.

4 .4 .4 .1. Additional Resources

T he following are resources which explain more about Reverse Path Filtering.

Useful Websites

See RFC3704 for an explanation of Ingress Filtering for Multihomed Networks.

See https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt for a list of files and options

available in the /proc/sys/net/ipv4 / directory.

4.5. Using Firewalls

4.5.1. Introduction to firewalld
T he dynamic firewall daemon firewalld provides a dynamically managed firewall with support for
network “zones” to assign a level of trust to a network and its associated connections and interfaces. It
has support for IPv4 and IPv6 firewall settings. It supports Ethernet bridges and has a separation of
runtime and permanent configuration options. It also has an interface for services or applications to add
firewall rules directly.

4.5.2. Understanding firewalld

A graphical configuration tool, firewall-config, is used to configure firewalld, which in turn uses
iptables tool to communicate with Netfilter in the kernel which implements packet filtering.

T o use the graphical firewall-config tool, press the Super key to enter the Activities Overview, type
firewall and then press Enter. T he firewall-config tool appears. You will be prompted for an
administrator password.

T he firewall-config tool has a drop-down selection menu labeled Configuration. T his enables
selecting between Runtim e and Perm anent mode. Notice that if you select Perm anent, an additional
row of icons will appear in the left hand corner. T hese icons only appear in permanent configuration mode
because a service's parameters cannot be changed in run time mode.

T he firewall service provided by firewalld is dynamic rather than static because changes to the
configuration can be made at anytime and are immediately implemented, there is no need to save or apply
the changes. No unintended disruption of existing network connections occurs as no part of the firewall
has to be reloaded.

57
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

A command line client, firewall-cmd, is provided. It can be used to make permanent and non-permanent
run-time changes as explained in m an firewall-cm d(1). Permanent changes need to be made as
explained in the firewalld(1) man page. Note that the firewall-cm d command can be run by the
root user and also by an administrative user, in other words, a member of the wheel group. In the latter
case the command will be authorized via the polkit mechanism.

T he configuration for firewalld is stored in various XML files in /usr/lib/firewalld/ and

/etc/firewalld/. T his allows a great deal of flexibility as the files can be edited, written to, backed up,
used as templates for other installations and so on.

Other applications can communicate with firewalld using D-bus.

4.5.3. Comparison of firewalld to system-config-firewall and iptables

T he essential differences between firewalld and the iptables service are:

T he iptables service stores configuration in /etc/sysconfig/iptables while firewalld

stores it in various XML files in /usr/lib/firewalld/ and /etc/firewalld/. Note that the
/etc/sysconfig/iptables file does not exist as firewalld is installed by default on Red Hat
Enterprise Linux.

With the iptables service, every single change means flushing all the old rules and reading all the
new rules from /etc/sysconfig/iptables while with firewalld there is no re-creating of all the
rules; only the differences are applied. Consequently, firewalld can change the settings during run
time without existing connections being lost.

Both use iptables tool to talk to the kernel packet filter.

58
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Figure 4 .1. T he Firewall Stack

4.5.4. Understanding Network Zones

Firewalls can be used to separate networks into different zones based on the level of trust the user has
decided to place on the devices and traffic within that network. NetworkManager informs firewalld to
which zone an interface belongs. An interface's assigned zone can be changed by NetworkManager or
via the firewall-config tool which can open the relevant NetworkManager window for you.

T he zone settings in /etc/firewalld/ are a range of preset settings which can be quickly applied to a
network interface. T hey are listed here with a brief explanation:

drop

Any incoming network packets are dropped, there is no reply. Only outgoing network connections
are possible.

block

Any incoming network connections are rejected with an icmp-host-prohibited message for IPv4
and icmp6-adm-prohibited for IPv6. Only network connections initiated from within the system are
possible.

59
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

public

For use in public areas. You do not trust the other computers on the network to not harm your
computer. Only selected incoming connections are accepted.

external

For use on external networks with masquerading enabled especially for routers. You do not trust
the other computers on the network to not harm your computer. Only selected incoming
connections are accepted.

dm z

For computers in your demilitarized zone that are publicly-accessible with limited access to your
internal network. Only selected incoming connections are accepted.

work

For use in work areas. You mostly trust the other computers on networks to not harm your
computer. Only selected incoming connections are accepted.

hom e

For use in home areas. You mostly trust the other computers on networks to not harm your
computer. Only selected incoming connections are accepted.

internal

For use on internal networks. You mostly trust the other computers on the networks to not harm
your computer. Only selected incoming connections are accepted.

trusted

All network connections are accepted.

It is possible to designate one of these zones to be the default zone. When interface connections are
added to NetworkManager, they are assigned to the default zone. On installation, the default zone in
firewalld is set to be the public zone.

4.5.5. Choosing a Network Zone

T he network zone names have been chosen to be self-explanatory and to allow users to quickly make a
reasonable decision. However, a review of the default configuration settings should be made and
unnecessary services disabled according to your needs and risk assessments.

4.5.6. Understanding Predefined Services

A service can be a list of local ports and destinations as well as a list of firewall helper modules
automatically loaded if a service is enabled. T he use of predefined services makes it easier for the user to
enable and disable access to a service. Using the predefined services, or custom defined services, as
opposed to opening ports or ranges or ports may make administration easier. Service configuration
options and generic file information are described in the firewalld.service(5) man page. T he
services are specified by means of individual XML configuration files which are named in the following
format: service-name.xm l.

60
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T o view the list of services using the graphical firewall-config tool, press the Super key to enter the
Activities Overview, type firewall and then press Enter. T he firewall-config tool appears. You will be
prompted for an administrator password. You can now view the list of services under the Services tab.

T o list the default predefined services available using the command line, issue the following command as
root:

~]# ls /usr/lib/firewalld/services/

Files in /usr/lib/firewalld/services/ must not be edited. Only the files in

/etc/firewalld/services/ should be edited.

T o list the system or user created services, issue the following command as root:

~]# ls /etc/firewalld/services/

Services can be added and removed using the graphical firewall-config tool and by editing the XML files
in /etc/firewalld/services/. If a service has not been added or changed by the user, then no
corresponding XML file will be found in /etc/firewalld/services/. T he files
/usr/lib/firewalld/services/ can be used as templates if you wish to add or change a service.
As root, issue a command in the following format:

~]# cp /usr/lib/firewalld/services/[service].xml
/etc/firewalld/services/[service].xml

You may then edit the newly created file. firewalld will prefer files in /etc/firewalld/services/
but will fall back to /usr/lib/firewalld/services/ should a file be deleted, but only after a reload.

4.5.7. Understanding the Direct Interface

firewalld has a so called “direct interface”, which enables directly passing rules to iptables,
ip6tables and ebtables. It is intended for use by applications and not users. It is dangerous to use the
direct interface if you are not very familiar with iptables as you could inadvertently cause a breach in the
firewall. firewalld still tracks what has been added, so it is still possible to query firewalld and see
the changes made by an application using the direct interface mode. T he direct interface is used by adding
the --direct option to the firewall-cm d command.

T he direct interface mode is intended for services or applications to add specific firewall rules during run
time. T he rules are not permanent and need to be applied every time after receiving the start, restart or
reload message from firewalld using D-BUS.

4.5.8. Checking if firewalld is Installed

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 firewalld and the graphical user interface configuration tool firewall-
config are installed by default. T his can be checked by running the following command as root:

~]# yum install firewalld firewall-config

4.5.9. Disabling firewalld

T o disable firewalld, run the following commands as root:

~]# systemctl disable firewalld

# systemctl stop firewalld

61
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

4.5.10. Using the iptables Service

T o use the iptables and ip6tables services instead of firewalld, first disable firewalld by
running the following command as root:

~]# systemctl disable firewalld

# systemctl stop firewalld

T hen install the iptables-services package by entering the following command as root:

~]# yum install iptables-services

T he iptables-services package contains the iptables service and the ip6tables service.

T hen, to start the iptables and ip6tables services, run the following commands as root:

# systemctl start iptables

# systemctl start ip6tables
# systemctl enable iptables
# systemctl enable ip6tables

4.5.11. Start firewalld

T o start firewalld, enter the following command as root:

~]# systemctl start firewalld

4.5.12. Checking if firewalld is Running

T o check if firewalld is running, enter the following command:

~]$ systemctl status firewalld

firewalld.service - firewalld - dynamic firewall daemon
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/firewalld.service; enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2013-04-06 22:56:59 CEST; 2 days ago
Main PID: 688 (firewalld)
CGroup: name=systemd:/system/firewalld.service

In addition, check if firewall-cmd can connect to the daemon by entering the following command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --state

running

4.5.13. Installing firewalld

T o install firewalld, run the following command as root:

~]# yum install firewalld

T o install the graphical user interface tool firewall-config, run the following command as root:

~]# yum install firewall-config

62
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4.5.14. Configuring the Firewall

T he firewall can be configured using the graphical user interface tool firewall-config, using the command
line interface tool firewall-cmd and by editing XML configuration files. T hese methods will be described in
order.

4 .5.14 .1. Configuring T he Firewall Using T he Graphical User Interface

4 .5.14 .1.1. Start T he graphical firewall configuration tool

T o start the graphical firewall-config tool, press the Super key to enter the Activities Overview, type
firewall and then press Enter. T he firewall-config tool appears. You will be prompted for an
administrator password.

T o start the graphical firewall configuration tool using the command line, enter the following command as
root user:

~]# firewall-config

T he Firewall Configuration window opens. Note, this command can be run as normal user but you
will then be prompted for an administrator password from time to time.

Figure 4 .2. T he firewall configuration tool

63
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Look for the word “Connected” in the lower left corner. T his indicates that the firewall-config tool is
connected to the user space daemon, firewalld. Note that the ICMP T ypes, Direct
Configuration, and Lockdown Whitlist tabs are only visible after being selected from the View
drop-down menu.

4 .5.14 .1.2. Changing the Firewall Settings

T o immediately change the current firewall settings, ensure the current view is set to Runtim e.
Alternatively, to edit the settings to be applied at the next system start, or firewall reload, select
Perm anent from the drop-down list.

Note

When making changes to the firewall settings in Runtim e mode, your selection takes immediate
effect when you set or clear the check box associated with the service. You should keep this in
mind when working on a system that may be in use by other users.

When making changes to the firewall settings in Perm anent mode, your selection will only take
effect when you reload the firewall or the system restarts. You can use the reload icon below the
File menu, or click the Options menu and select Reload Firewall.

You can select zones in the left hand side column. You will notice the zones have some services enabled,
you may need to resize the window or scroll to see the full list. You can customize the settings by
selecting and deselecting a service.

4 .5.14 .1.3. Add an Interface to a Z one

T o add or reassign an interface of a connection to a zone, start firewall-config, select Options from the
menu bar, select Change Zones of Connections from the drop-down menu, the Connections list
is displayed. Select the connection to be reassigned. T he Select Zone for Connection window
appears. Select the new firewall zone from the drop-down menu and click OK.

4 .5.14 .1.4 . Set the Default Z one

T o set the default zone that new interfaces will be assigned to, start firewall-config, select Options
from the menu bar, select Change Default Zone from the drop-down menu. T he Default Zone
window appears. Select the zone form the list that you want to be used as the default zone and click OK.

4 .5.14 .1.5. Configuring Services

T o enable or disable a predefined or custom service, start the firewall-config tool and select the network
zone whose services are to be configured. Select the Services tab and select the check box for each
type of service you want to trust. Clear the check box to block a service.

T o edit a service, start the firewall-config tool and then select Perm anent mode from the drop-down
selection menu labeled Configuration. Additional icons and menu buttons appear at the bottom of the
Services window. Select the service you wish to configure.

T he Ports and Protocols tab enables adding, changing, and removing of ports and protocols for the
selected service. T he modules tab is for configuring Netfilter helper modules. T he Destination tab
enables limiting traffic to a particular destination address and Internet Protocol (IPv4 or IPv6).

64
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4 .5.14 .1.6. Open Ports in the Firewall

T o permit traffic through the firewall to a certain port, start the firewall-config tool and select the network
zone whose settings you want to change. Select the Ports tab and the click the Add button on the right
hand side. T he Port and Protocol window opens.

Enter the port number or range of ports to permit. Select tcp or udp from the drop-down list.

4 .5.14 .1.7. Enable IP Address Masquerading

T o translate IPv4 addresses to a single external address, start the firewall-config tool and select the
network zone whose addresses are to be translated. Select the Masquerading tab and select the check
box to enable the translation of IPv4 addresses to a single address.

4 .5.14 .1.8. Configure Port Forwarding

T o forward inbound network traffic, or “packets”, for a specific port to an internal address or alternative
port, first enable IP address masquerading, then select the Port Forwarding tab.

Select the protocol of the incoming traffic and the port or range of ports on the upper section of the
window. T he lower section is for setting details about the destination.

T o forward traffic to a local port, that is to say to a port on the same system, select the Local
forwarding check box. Enter the local port or range of ports for the traffic to be sent to.

T o forward traffic to another IPv4 address, select the Forward to another port check box. Enter
the destination IP address and port or port range. T he default is to send to the same port if the port field is
left empty. Click OK to apply the changes.

4 .5.14 .1.9. Configuring the ICMP Filter

T o enable or disable an ICMP filter, start the firewall-config tool and select the network zone whose
messages are to be filtered. Select the ICMP Filter tab and select the check box for each type of ICMP
message you want to filter. Clear the check box to disable a filter. T his setting is per direction and the
default allows everything.

T o edit an ICMP type, start the firewall-config tool and then select Perm anent mode from the drop-
down selection menu labeled Configuration. Additional icons appear at the bottom of the Services
window.

4 .5.14 .2. Configuring the Firewall Using the Command Line T ool, firewall-cmd

T he command line tool firewall-cmd is part of the firewalld application which is installed by default.
You can verify that it is installed by checking the version or displaying the help output. Enter the following
command to check the version:

~]$ firewall-cmd --version

Enter the following command to view the help output:

~]$ firewall-cmd --help

We list a selection of commands below, for a full list please see the man page, m an firewall-cm d(1).

65
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Note

In order to make a command permanent or persistent, add the --perm anent option to all
commands apart from the --direct commands (which are by their nature temporary). Note that
this not only means the change will be permanent but that the change will only take effect after
firewall reload, service restart, or after system reboot. Settings made with firewall-cmd without the
--perm anent option take effect immediately, but are only valid till next firewall reload, system boot,
or firewalld service restart. Reloading the firewall does not in itself break connections, but be
aware you are discarding temporary changes by doing so.

4 .5.14 .3. View the Firewall Settings Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

T o get a text display of the state of firewalld, enter the following command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --state

T o view the list of active zones, with a list of the interfaces currently assigned to them, enter the following
command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --get-active-zones

public: em1 wlan0

T o find out the zone that an interface, for example em1, is currently assigned to, enter the following
command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --get-zone-of-interface=em1

public

T o find out all the interfaces assigned to a zone, for example the public zone, enter the following command
as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=public --list-interfaces

em1 wlan0

T his information is obtained from NetworkManager and only shows interfaces not connections.

T o find out all the settings of a zone, for example the public zone, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=public --list-all

public
interfaces:
services: mdns dhcpv6-client ssh
ports:
forward-ports:
icmp-blocks: source-quench

T o view the network zones currently active, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --get-service

cluster-suite pop3s bacula-client smtp ipp radius bacula ftp mdns samba dhcpv6-
client dns openvpn imaps samba-client http https ntp vnc-server telnet libvirt ssh
ipsec ipp-client amanda-client tftp-client nfs tftp libvirt-tls

66
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T his will list the names of the services in /usr/lib/firewalld/services/. Note that the
configuration files themselves are named service-name.xm l.

T o view the network zones that will be active after the next firewall reload, enter the following command as
root:

~]# firewall-cmd --get-service --permanent

4 .5.14 .4 . Change the Firewall Settings Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

4 .5.14 .4 .1. Drop All Packets (Panic Mode)

T o start dropping all incoming and outgoing packets, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --panic-on

All incoming and outgoing packets will be dropped. Active connections will be terminated after a period of
inactivity; the time taken depends on the individual session time out values.

T o start passing incoming and outgoing packets again, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --panic-off

After disabling panic mode, established connections might work again if panic mode was enabled for a
short period of time.

T o find out if panic mode is enabled or disabled, enter the following command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --query-panic

Prints yes with exit status 0, if enabled, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise.

4 .5.14 .4 .2. Reload the Firewall Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

T o reload the firewall with out interrupting user connections, that is to say, with out losing state information,
enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --reload

T o reload the firewall and interrupt user connections, that is to say, to discard state information, enter the
following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --complete-reload

T his command should normally only be used in case of severe firewall problems. For example, if there are
state information problems and no connection can be established but the firewall rules are correct.

4 .5.14 .4 .3. Add an Interface to a Z one Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

T o add an interface to a zone, for example to add em1 to the public zone, enter the following command as
root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-interface=em1

T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

67
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

4 .5.14 .4 .4 . Add an Interface to a Z one by Editing the Interface Configuration File

T o add an interface to a zone by editing the ifcfg-em 1 configuration file, for example to add em1 to the
work zone, as root use an editor to add the following line to ifcfg-em 1:

ZONE=work

Note that if you omit the ZONE option, or use ZONE=, or ZONE='', then the default zone will be used.

NetworkManager will automatically reconnect and the zone will be set accordingly.

4 .5.14 .4 .5. Configure the Default Z one by Editing the firewalld Configuration File

As root, open /etc/firewalld/firewalld.conf and edit the file as follows:

# default zone
# The default zone used if an empty zone string is used.
# Default: public
DefaultZone=home

Reload the firewall, by entering the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --reload

T his will reload the firewall without losing state information (T CP sessions will not be interrupted).

4 .5.14 .4 .6. Set the Default Z one by Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

T o set the default zone, for example to public, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --set-default-zone=public

T his change will take immediate effect and in this case it is not necessary to reload the firewall.

4 .5.14 .4 .7. Open Ports in the Firewall Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

List all open ports for a zone, for example dmz, by entering the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=dmz --list-ports

T o add a port to a zone, for example to allow T CP traffic to port 8080 to the dmz zone, enter the following
command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=dmz --add-port=8080/tcp

T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

T o add a range of ports to a zone, for example to allow the ports from 5060 to 5061 to the public zone,
enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=5060-5061/udp

T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

4 .5.14 .4 .8. Add a Service to a Z one Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

68
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T o add a service to a zone, for example to allow SMT P to the work zone, enter the following command as
root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=work --add-service=smtp

T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

4 .5.14 .4 .9. Remove a Service from a Z one Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

T o remove a service from a zone, for example to remove SMT P from the work zone, enter the following
command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=work --remove-service=smtp

Add the --perm anent option to make the change persist after system boot. If using this option and you
wish to make the change immediate, reload the firewall, by entering the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --reload

Note, this will not break established connections. If that is your intention, you could use the --com plete-
reload option but this will break all established connections not just for the service you have removed.

4 .5.14 .4 .10. Add a Service to a Z one by Editing XML Files

T o view the default zone files, enter the following command as root:

~]# ls /usr/lib/firewalld/zones/
block.xml drop.xml home.xml public.xml work.xml
dmz.xml external.xml internal.xml trusted.xml

T hese files must not be edited. T hey are used by default if no equivalent file exists in the
/etc/firewalld/zones/ directory.

T o view the zone files that have been changed from the default, enter the following command as root:

~]# ls /etc/firewalld/zones/
external.xml public.xml public.xml.old

In the example shown above, the work zone file does not exist. T o add the work zone file, enter the
following command as root:

~]# cp /usr/lib/firewalld/zones/work.xml /etc/firewalld/zones/

You can now edit the file in the /etc/firewalld/zones/ directory. If you delete the file, firewalld
will fall back to using the default file in /usr/lib/firewalld/zones/.

T o add a service to a zone, for example to allow SMT P to the work zone, use an editor with root
privileges to edit the /etc/firewalld/zones/work.xm l file to include the following line:

<service name="smtp"/>

4 .5.14 .4 .11. Remove a Service from a Z one by Editing XML files

69
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

An editor running with root privileges is required to edit the XML zone files. T o view the files for
previously configured zones, enter the following command as root:

~]# ls /etc/firewalld/zones/
external.xml public.xml work.xml

T o remove a service from a zone, for example to remove SMT P from the work zone, use an editor with
root privileges to edit the /etc/firewalld/zones/work.xm l file to remove the following line:

<service name="smtp"/>

If no other changes have been made to the work.xm l file, it can be removed and firewalld will use the
default /usr/lib/firewalld/zones/work.xm l configuration file after the next reload or system boot.

4 .5.14 .4 .12. Configure IP Address Masquerading

T o check if IP masquerading is enabled, for example for the external zone, enter the following command as
root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external --query-masquerade

Prints yes with exit status 0, if enabled, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise. If zone is omitted, the
default zone will be used.

T o enable IP masquerading, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external --add-masquerade

T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

T o disable IP masquerading, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external --remove-masquerade

T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

4 .5.14 .4 .13. Configure Port Forwarding Using the Command Line Interface (CLI)

T o forward inbound network packets from one port to an alternative port or address, first enable IP
address masquerading for a zone, for example external, by entering the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external --add-masquerade

T o forward packets to a local port, that is to say to a port on the same system, enter the following
command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external --add-forward-

port=port=22:proto=tcp:toport=3753

In this example, the packets intended for port 22 are now forwarded to port 3753. T he original destination
port is specified with the port option. T his option can be a port, or port range, together with a protocol.
T he protocol, if specified, must be one of either tcp or udp. T he new local port, the port or range of ports
to which the traffic is being forwarded to, is specified with the toport option. T o make this setting
permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

70
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T o forward packets to another IPv4 address, usually an internal address, without changing the
destination port, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external --add-forward-

port=port=22:proto=tcp:toaddr=192.0.2.55

In this example, the packets intended for port 22 are now forwarded to the same port at the address given
with the toaddr. T he original destination port is specified with the port. T his option can be a port, or port
range, together with a protocol. T he protocol, if specified, must be one of either tcp or udp. T he new
destination port, the port or range of ports to which the traffic is being forwarded to, is specified with the
toport. T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

T o forward packets to another port at another IPv4 address, usually an internal address, enter the
following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --zone=external /

--add-forward-port=port=22:proto=tcp:toport=2055:toaddr=192.0.2.55

In this example, the packets intended for port 22 are now forwarded to port 2055 at the address given with
the toaddr option. T he original destination port is specified with the port option. T his option can be a
port, or port range, together with a protocol. T he protocol, if specified, must be one of either tcp or udp.
T he new destination port, the port or range of ports to which the traffic is being forwarded to, is specified
with the toport. T o make this setting permanent, add the --perm anent option and reload the firewall.

4 .5.14 .5. Configuring the Firewall Using XML Files

T he configuration settings for firewalld are stored in XML files in the /etc/firewalld/ directory. Do
not edit the files in the /usr/lib/firewalld/ directory, they are for the default settings. You will need
root user permissions to view and edit the XML files. T he XML files are explained in three man pages:

firewalld.icm ptype(5) man page — Describes XML configuration files for ICMP filtering.

firewalld.service(5) man page — Describes XML configuration files for firewalld service.

firewalld.zone(5) man page — Describes XML configuration files for firewalld zone
configuration.

T he XML files can be created and edited directly or created indirectly using the graphical and command
line tools. Organizations can distribute them in RPM files which can make management and version control
easier. T ools such as Puppet can distribute such configuration files.

4 .5.14 .6. Using the Direct Interface

It is possible to add and remove chains during runtime by using the --direct option with the firewall-
cmd tool. A few examples are presented here, please see the firewall-cm d(1) man page for more
information.

It is dangerous to use the direct interface if you are not very familiar with iptables as you could
inadvertently cause a breach in the firewall.

T he direct interface mode is intended for services or applications to add specific firewall rules during run
time. T he rules are not permanent and need to be applied every time after receiving the start, restart or
reload message from firewalld using D-BUS.

4 .5.14 .6.1. Adding a Custom Rule Using the Direct Interface

71
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T o add a custom rule to the chain “IN_public_allow”, issuing a command as root in the following format:

~]# firewall-cmd --direct --add-rule ipv4 filter IN_public_allow \

0 -m tcp -p tcp --dport 666 -j ACCEPT

4 .5.14 .6.2. Removing a Custom Rule Using the Direct Interface

T o remove a custom rule from the chain “IN_public_allow”, issuing a command as root in the following
format:

~]# firewall-cmd --direct --remove-rule ipv4 filter IN_public_allow \

0 -m tcp -p tcp --dport 666 -j ACCEPT

4 .5.14 .6.3. Listing Custom Rules Using the Direct Interface

T o list the rules in the chain “IN_public_allow”, issuing a command as root in the following format:

~]# firewall-cmd --direct --get-rules ipv4 filter IN_public_allow

4.5.15. Configuring Complex Firewall Rules with the "Rich Language" Syntax
With the “rich language” syntax, complex firewall rules can be created in a way that is easier to understand
than the direct interface method. In addition, the settings can be made permanent. T he language uses
keywords with values and is an abstract representation of iptables rules. Z ones can be configured using
this language, the current configuration method will still be supported.

4 .5.15.1. Format of the Rich Language Commands

All the commands in this section need to be run as root. T he format of the command to add a rule is as
follows:

firewall-cmd [--zone=zone] --add-rich-rule='rule' [--timeout=seconds]

T his will add a rich language rule rule for zone zone. T his option can be specified multiple times. If the
zone is omitted, the default zone will be used. If a timeout is supplied, the rule or rules will be active for the
amount of seconds specified and will be removed automatically afterwards.

T o remove a rule:

firewall-cmd [--zone=zone] --remove-rich-rule='rule'

T his will remove a rich language rule rule for zone zone. T his option can be specified multiple times. If the
zone is omitted, the default zone will be used.

T o check if a rule is present:

firewall-cmd [--zone=zone] --query-rich-rule='rule'

T his will return whether a rich language rule rule has been added for the zone zone. Prints yes with exit
status 0, if enabled, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise. If the zone is omitted, the default zone will be
used.

For information about the rich language representation used in the zone configuration files, see the
firewalld.zone(5) man page.

72
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4 .5.15.2. Understanding the Rich Rule Structure

T he format or structure of the rich rule commands is as follows:

rule [family="<rule family>"]

[ source address="<address>" [invert="True"] ]
[ destination address="<address>" [invert="True"] ]
[ <element> ]
[ log [prefix="<prefix text>"] [level="<log level>"] [limit
value="rate/duration"] ]
[ audit ]
[ accept|reject|drop ]

A rule is associated with a particular zone. A zone can have several rules. If some rules interact or
contradict, the first rule that matches the packet applies. If the rule family is provided, it can be either ipv4
or ipv6, it limits the rule to IPv4 or IPv6. If the rule family is not provided, the rule will be added for both
IPv4 and IPv6. If source or destination addresses are used in a rule, then the rule family needs to be
provided. T his is also the case for port forwarding.

4 .5.15.3. Understanding the Rich Rule Commands

source

By specifying the source address the origin of a connection attempt can be limited to the source
address. A source address or address range is either an IP address or a network IP address
with a mask for IPv4 or IPv6. T he network family (IPv4 or IPv6) will be automatically
discovered. For IPv4 , the mask can be a network mask or a plain number. For IPv6 the mask is
a plain number. T he use of host names is not supported. It is possible to invert the sense of the
source address command by adding invert="true" or invert="yes"; all but the supplied
address will match.

destination

By specifying the destination address the target can be limited to the destination address. T he
destination address uses the same syntax as the source address. T he use of source and
destination addresses is optional and the use of a destination addresses is not possible with all
elements. T his depends on the use of destination addresses, for example in service entries. T he
element can be exactly one of the element types: service, port, protocol, m asquerade,
icm p-block and forward-port.

service

T he service name is one of the firewalld provided services. T o get a list of the supported
services, issue the following command: firewall-cm d --get-services. If a service provides
a destination address, it will conflict with a destination address in the rule and will result in an
error. T he services using destination addresses internally are mostly services using multicast.
T he command takes the following form:

service name=service_name

port

T he port can either be a single port number or a port range, for example, 5060-5062. T he
protocol can either be specified as tcp or udp. T he command takes the following form:

port port=number_or_range protocol=protocol

73
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

protocol

T he protocol value can be either a protocol ID number or a protocol name. For allowed protocol
entries, see /etc/protocols. T he command takes the following form:

protocol value=protocol_name_or_ID

icm p-block

Use this command to block one or more ICMP types. T he ICMP type is one of the ICMP types
firewalld supports. T o get a listing of supported ICMP types, issue the following command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --get-icmptypes

Specifying an action is not allowed here. icm p-block uses the action reject internally. T he
command takes the following form:

icmp-block name=icmptype_name

m asquerade

T urns on IP masquerading in the rule. A source address can be provided to limit masquerading to
this area, but not a destination address. Specifying an action is not allowed here.

forward-port

Forward packets from a local port with protocol specified as tcp or udp to either another port
locally, to another machine, or to another port on another machine. T he port and to-port can
either be a single port number or a port range. T he destination address is a simple IP address.
Specifying an action is not allowed here. T he forward-port command uses the action accept
internally. T he command takes the following form:

forward-port port=number_or_range protocol=protocol /

to-port=number_or_range to-addr=address

log

Log new connection attempts to the rule with kernel logging, for example in syslog. You can define
a prefix text that will be added to the log message as a prefix. Log level can be one of em erg,
alert, crit, error, warning, notice, info or debug. T he use of log is optional. It is
possible to limit logging as follows:

log [prefix=prefix text] [level=log level] limit value=rate/duration

T he rate is a natural positive number [1, ..], the duration of s, m , h, d. s means seconds, m
minutes, h hours and d days. T he maximum limit value is 1/d which means at maximum one log
entry per day.

audit

Audit provides an alternative way for logging using audit records sent to the service auditd. T he
audit type can be one of ACCEPT , REJECT or DROP but it is not specified after the command
audit as the audit type will be automatically gathered from the rule action. Audit does not have
its own parameters, but limit can be added optionally. T he use of audit is optional.

74
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

accept|reject|drop

An action can be one of accept, reject or drop. T he rule can only contain an element or a
source. If the rule contains an element, then new connections matching the element will be
handled with the action. If the rule contains a source, then everything from the source address will
be handled with the action specified.

accept | reject [type=reject type] | drop

With accept all new connection attempts will be granted. With reject they will be rejected and
their source will get a reject message. T he reject type can be set to use another value. With drop
all packets will be dropped immediately and no information is sent to the source.

4 .5.15.4 . Using the Rich Rule Log Command

Logging can be done with the Netfilter log target and also with the audit target. A new chain is added to
all zones with a name in the format “zone_log”, where zone is the zone name. T his is processed before
the deny chain in order to have proper ordering. T he rules or parts of them are placed in separate chains,
according to the action of the rule, as follows:

zone_log
zone_deny
zone_allow

All logging rules will be placed in the “zone_log” chain, which will be parsed first. All reject and drop
rules will be placed in the “zone_deny” chain, which will be parsed after the log chain. All accept rules will
be placed in the “zone_allow” chain, which will be parsed after the deny chain. If a rule contains log and
also deny or allow actions, the parts are placed in the matching chains.

4 .5.15.4 .1. Using the Rich Rule Log Command Example 1

Enable new IPv4 and IPv6 connections for authentication header protocol AH:

rule protocol value="ah" accept

4 .5.15.4 .2. Using the Rich Rule Log Command Example 2

Allow new IPv4 and IPv6 connections for protocol FT P and log 1 per minute using audit:

rule service name="ftp" log limit value="1/m" audit accept

4 .5.15.4 .3. Using the Rich Rule Log Command Example 3

Allow new IPv4 connections from address 192.168.0.0/24 for protocol T FT P and log 1 per minute
using syslog:

rule family="ipv4" source address="192.168.0.0/24" service name="tftp" log

prefix="tftp" level="info" limit value="1/m" accept

4 .5.15.4 .4 . Using the Rich Rule Log Command Example 4

New IPv6 connections from 1:2:3:4 :6:: for protocol RADIUS are all rejected and logged at a rate of 3
per minute. New IPv6 connections from other sources are accepted:

75
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

rule family="ipv6" source address="1:2:3:4:6::" service name="radius" log

prefix="dns" level="info" limit value="3/m" reject
rule family="ipv6" service name="radius" accept

4 .5.15.4 .5. Using the Rich Rule Log Command Example 5

Forward IPv6 packets received from 1:2:3:4 :6:: on port 4011 with protocol T CP to 1::2:3:4 :7 on
port 4012.

rule family="ipv6" source address="1:2:3:4:6::" forward-port to-addr="1::2:3:4:7"

to-port="4012" protocol="tcp" port="4011"

4 .5.15.4 .6. Using the Rich Rule Log Command Example 6

Whitelist a source address to allow all connections from this source.

rule family="ipv4" source address="192.168.2.2" accept

See the firewalld.richlanguage(5) man page for more examples.

4.5.16. Firewall Lockdown

Local applications or services are able to change the firewall configuration if they are running as root (for
example, libvirt). With this feature, the administrator can lock the firewall configuration so that either no
applications, or only applications that are added to the lockdown whitelist, are able to request firewall
changes. T he lockdown settings default to disabled. If enabled, the user can be sure that there are no
unwanted configuration changes made to the firewall by local applications or services.

4 .5.16.1. Configuring Firewall Lockdown

Using an editor running as root, add the following line to the /etc/firewalld/firewalld.conf file
as follows:

Lockdown=yes

Reload the firewall using the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --reload

T ry to enable the service im aps in the default zone using the following command as an administrative
user, that is to say, a user in group wheel (usually the first user on system). You will be prompted for the
user password:

~]$ firewall-cmd --add-service=imaps

Error: ACCESS_DENIED: lockdown is enabled

T o enable the use of firewall-cmd, issue the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --add-lockdown-whitelist-command='/usr/bin/python -Es

/usr/bin/firewall-cmd*'

Add the --perm anent option if you want to make it persistent.

Reload the firewall as root:

76
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

~]# firewall-cmd --reload

T ry to enable the im aps service again in the default zone by entering the following command as an
administrative user. You will be prompted for the user password:

~]$ firewall-cmd --add-service=imaps

T his time the command succeeds.

4 .5.16.2. Configure Lockdown with the Command Line Client

T o query whether lockdown is enabled, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --query-lockdown

Prints yes with exit status 0, if lockdown is enabled, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise.

T o enable lockdown, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --lockdown-on

T o disable lockdown, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --lockdown-off

4 .5.16.3. Configure Lockdown Whitelist Options with the Command Line

T he lockdown whitelist can contain commands, security contexts, users and user IDs. If a command entry
on the whitelist ends with an asterisk “*”, then all command lines starting with that command will match. If
the “*” is not there then the absolute command including arguments must match.

T he context is the security (SELinux) context of a running application or service. T o get the context of a
running application use the following command:

~]$ ps -e --context

T hat command returns all running applications. Pipe the output through the grep tool to get the application
of interest. For example:

~]$ ps -e --context | grep example_program

T o list all command lines that are on the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --list-lockdown-whitelist-commands

T o add a command command to the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --add-lockdown-whitelist-command='/usr/bin/python -Es

/usr/bin/command'

T o remove a command command from the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --remove-lockdown-whitelist-command='/usr/bin/python -Es

/usr/bin/command'

77
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T o query whether the command command is on the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --query-lockdown-whitelist-command='/usr/bin/python -Es

/usr/bin/command'

Prints yes with exit status 0, if true, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise.

T o list all security contexts that are on the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --list-lockdown-whitelist-contexts

T o add a context context to the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --add-lockdown-whitelist-context=context

Add the --perm anent option to make it persistent.

T o remove a context context from the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --remove-lockdown-whitelist-context=context

Add the --perm anent option to make it persistent.

T o query whether the context context is on the whitelist, enter the following command root:

~]# firewall-cmd --query-lockdown-whitelist-context=context

Prints yes with exit status 0, if true, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise.

T o list all user IDs that are on the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --list-lockdown-whitelist-uids

T o add a user ID uid to the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --add-lockdown-whitelist-uid=uid

Add the --perm anent option to make it persistent.

T o remove a user ID uid from the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --remove-lockdown-whitelist-uid=uid

Add the --perm anent option to make it persistent.

T o query whether the user ID uid is on the whitelist, enter the following command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --query-lockdown-whitelist-uid=uid

Prints yes with exit status 0, if true, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise.

T o list all user names that are on the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --list-lockdown-whitelist-users

78
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T o add a user name user to the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --add-lockdown-whitelist-user=user

Add the --perm anent option to make it persistent.

T o remove a user name user from the whitelist, enter the following command as root:

~]# firewall-cmd --remove-lockdown-whitelist-user=user

Add the --perm anent option to make it persistent.

T o query whether the user name user is on the whitelist, enter the following command:

~]$ firewall-cmd --query-lockdown-whitelist-user=user

Prints yes with exit status 0, if true, prints no with exit status 1 otherwise.

4 .5.16.4 . Configure Lockdown Whitelist Options with Configuration Files

T he default whitelist configuration file contains the NetworkManager context and the default context of
libvirt. Also the user ID 0 is in the list.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<whitelist>
<selinux context="system_u:system_r:NetworkManager_t:s0"/>
<selinux context="system_u:system_r:virtd_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023"/>
<user id="0"/>
</whitelist>

Here follows an example whitelist configuration file enabling all commands for the firewall-cm d utility,
for a user called user whose user ID is 815:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<whitelist>
<command name="/usr/bin/python -Es /bin/firewall-cmd*"/>
<selinux context="system_u:system_r:NetworkManager_t:s0"/>
<user id="815"/>
<user name="user"/>
</whitelist>

In this example we have shown both user id and user nam e but only one is required. Python is the
interpreter and therefore prepended to the command line. You can also use a very specific command, for
example:

/usr/bin/python /bin/firewall-cmd --lockdown-on

In that example only the --lockdown-on command will be allowed.

79
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Note

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, all utilities are now placed in /usr/bin/ and the /bin/ directory is
sym-linked to the /usr/bin/ directory. In other words, although the path for firewall-cm d when
run as root might resolve to /bin/firewall-cm d, /usr/bin/firewall-cm d can now be
used. All new scripts should use the new location but be aware that if scripts that run as root have
been written to use the /bin/firewall-cm d path then that command path must be whitelisted in
addition to the /usr/bin/firewall-cm d path traditionally used only for non-root users.

T he “*” at the end of the name attribute of a command means that all commands that start with this
string will match. If the “*” is not there then the absolute command including arguments must match.

4.5.17. Additional Resources

T he following sources of information provide additional resources regarding firewalld.

4 .5.17.1. Installed Documentation

firewalld(1) man page — Describes command options for firewalld.

firewalld.conf(5) man page — Contains information to configure firewalld.

firewall-cm d(1) man page — Describes command options for the firewalld command line
client.

firewalld.icm ptype(5) man page — Describes XML configuration files for ICMP filtering.

firewalld.service(5) man page — Describes XML configuration files for firewalld service.

firewalld.zone(5) man page — Describes XML configuration files for firewalld zone
configuration.

firewalld.direct(5) man page — Describes the firewalld direct interface configuration file.

firewalld.lockdown-whitelist(5) man page — Describes the firewalld lockdown whitelist

configuration file.

firewall.richlanguage(5) man page — Describes the firewalld rich language rule syntax.

firewalld.zones(5) man page — General description of what zones are and how to configure
them.

4.6. Securing DNS Traffic with DNSSEC

4.6.1. Introduction to DNSSEC

DNSSEC is a set of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) that enables a DNS client to
authenticate and check the integrity of responses from a DNS nameserver in order to verify their origin and
to determine if they have been tampered with in transit.

4.6.2. Understanding DNSSEC

80
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

For connecting over the Internet, a growing number of websites now offer the ability to connect securely
using HT T PS. However, before connecting to an HT T PS webserver, a DNS lookup must be performed,
unless you enter the IP address directly. T hese DNS lookups are done insecurely and are subject to man-
in-the-middle attacks due to lack of authentication. In other words, a DNS client cannot have confidence
that the replies that appear to come from a given DNS nameserver are authentic and have not been
tampered with. More importantly, a recursive nameserver cannot be sure that the records it obtains from
other nameservers are genuine. T he DNS protocol did not provide a mechanism for the client to ensure it
was not subject to a man-in-the-middle attack. DNSSEC was introduced to address the lack of
authentication and integrity checks when resolving domain names using DNS. It does not address the
problem of confidentiality.

Publishing DNSSEC information involves digitally signing DNS resource records as well as distributing
public keys in such a way as to enable DNS resolvers to build a hierarchical chain of trust. Digital
signatures for all DNS resource records are generated and added to the zone as digital signature
resource records (RRSIG). T he public key of a zone is added as a DNSKEY resource record. T o build the
hierarchical chain, hashes of the DNSKEY are published in the parent zone as Delegation of Signing (DS)
resource records. T o facilitate proof of non-existence, the NextSECure (NSEC) and NSEC3 resource
records are used. In a DNSSEC signed zone, each resource record set (RRset) has a corresponding
RRSIG resource record. Note that records used for delegation to a child zone (NS and glue records) are
not signed; these records appear in the child zone and are signed there.

Processing DNSSEC information is done by resolvers that are configured with the root zone public key.
Using this key, resolvers can verify the signatures used in the root zone. For example, the root zone has
signed the DS record for .com . T he root zone also serves NS and glue records for the .com name
servers. T he resolver follows this delegation and queries for the DNSKEY record of .com using these
delegated name servers. T he hash of the DNSKEY record obtained should match the DS record in the root
zone. If so, the resolver will trust the obtained DNSKEY for .com . In the .com zone, the RRSIG records
are created by the .com DNSKEY. T his process is repeated similarly for delegations within .com , such as
redhat.com . Using this method, a validating DNS resolver only needs to be configured with one root key
while it collects many DNSKEYs from around the world during its normal operation. If a cryptographic check
fails, the resolver will return SERVFAIL to the application.

DNSSEC has been designed in such a way that it will be completely invisible to applications not supporting
DNSSEC. If a non-DNSSEC application queries a DNSSEC capable resolver, it will receive the answer
without any of these new resource record types such as RRSIG. However, the DNSSEC capable resolver
will still perform all cryptographic checks, and will still return a SERVFAIL error to the application if it detects
malicious DNS answers. DNSSEC protects the integrity of the data between DNS servers (authoritative and
recursive), it does not provide security between the application and the resolver. T herefor, it is important
that the applications are given a secure transport to their resolver. T he easiest way to accomplish that is
to run a DNSSEC capable resolver on localhost and use 127.0.0.1 in /etc/resolv.conf.
Alternatively a VPN connection to a remote DNS server could be used.

Understanding the Hotspot Problem

When using Wi-Fi Hotspots or VPNs, there is a reliance on “DNS lies”. Captive portals tend to hijack DNS
in order to redirect users to a page where they are required to authenticate (or pay) for the Wi-Fi service.
Users connecting to a VPN often need to use an “internal only” DNS server in order to locate resources
that do not exist outside the corporate network. T his requires additional handling by software. For
example, dnssec-trigger can be used to detect if a Hotspot is hijacking the DNS queries and unbound
can act as a proxy nameserver to handle the DNSSEC queries.

Choosing a DNSSEC Capable Recursive Resolver

T o deploy a DNSSEC capable recursive resolver, either BIND or unbound can be used. Both enable

81
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

DNSSEC by default and are configured with the DNSSEC root key. T o enable DNSSEC on a server, either
will work however the use of unbound is preferred on mobile devices, such as notebooks, as it allows the
local user to dynamically reconfigure the DNSSEC overrides required for Hotspots when using dnssec-
trigger, and for VPNs when using Libreswan. T he unbound daemon further supports the deployment of
DNSSEC exceptions listed in the etc/unbound/* .d/ directories which can be useful to both servers
and mobile devices.

4.6.3. Understanding Dnssec-trigger

Once unbound is installed and configured in /etc/resolv.conf, all DNS queries from applications are
processed by unbound. dnssec-trigger only reconfigures the unbound resolver when triggered to do
so. T his mostly applies to roaming client machines, such as laptops, that connect to different Wi-Fi
networks. T he process is as follows:

NetworkManager “triggers” dnssec-trigger when a new DNS server is obtained via DHCP.

Dnssec-trigger then performs a number of tests against the server and decides whether or not it
properly supports DNSSEC.

If it does, then dnssec-trigger reconfigures unbound to use that DNS server as a forwarder for all
queries.

If the tests fail, dnssec-trigger will ignore the new DNS server and try a few available fall-back
methods.

If it determines that an unrestricted port 53 (UDP and T CP) is available, it will tell unbound to become a
full recursive DNS server without using any forwarder.

If this is not possible, for example because port 53 is blocked by a firewall for everything except
reaching the network's DNS server itself, it will try to use DNS to port 80, or T LS encapsulated DNS to
port 443. Servers running DNS on port 80 and 443 can be configured in /etc/dnssec-
trigger/dnssec-trigger.conf. Commented out examples should be available in the default
configuration file.

If these fall-back methods also fail, dnssec-trigger offers to either operate insecurely, which would
bypass DNSSEC completely, or run in “cache only” mode where it will not attempt new DNS queries but
will answer for everything it already has in the cache.

Wi-Fi Hotspots increasingly redirect users to a sign-on page before granting access to the Internet. During
the probing sequence outlined above, if a redirection is detected, the user is prompted to ask if a login is
required to gain Internet access. T he dnssec-trigger daemon continues to probe for DNSSEC
resolvers every ten seconds. See Section 4.6.8, “Using Dnssec-trigger” for information on using the
dnssec-trigger graphical utility.

4.6.4. VPN Supplied Domains and Name Servers

Some types of VPN connections can convey a domain and a list of nameservers to use for that domain as
part of the VPN tunnel setup. On Red Hat Enterprise Linux, this is supported by NetworkManager.
T his means that the combination of unbound, dnssec-trigger, and NetworkManager can properly
support domains and name servers provided by VPN software. Once the VPN tunnel comes up, the local
unbound cache is flushed for all entries of the domain name received, so that queries for names within
the domain name are fetched fresh from the internal name servers reached via the VPN. When the VPN
tunnel is terminated, the unbound cache is flushed again to ensure any queries for the domain will return
the public IP addresses, and not the previously obtained private IP addresses. See Section 4.6.11,
“Configuring DNSSEC Validation for Connection Supplied Domains”.

82
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4.6.5. Recommended Naming Practices

Red Hat recommends that both static and transient names match the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN)
used for the machine in DNS, such as host.exam ple.com .

T he Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) sometimes adds previously
unregistered T op-Level Domains (such as .yourcom pany) to the public register. T herefore, Red Hat
strongly recommends that you do not use a domain name that is not delegated to you, even on a private
network, as this can result in a domain name that resolves differently depending on network configuration.
As a result, network resources can become unavailable. Using domain names that are not delegated to
you also makes DNSSEC more difficult to deploy and maintain, as domain name collisions require manual
configuration to enable DNSSEC validation. See the ICANN FAQ on domain name collision for more
information on this issue.

4.6.6. Understanding Trust Anchors

A trust anchor consists of a DNS name and public key (or hash of the public key) associated with that
name. It is expressed as a base 64 encoded key. It is similar to a certificate in that it is a means of
exchanging information, including a public key, which can be used to verify and authenticate DNS records.
See RFC 4033 for a more complete definition of a trust anchor.

4.6.7. Installing DNSSEC

4 .6.7.1. Installing unbound

In order to validate DNS using DNSSEC locally on a machine, it is necessary to install the DNS resolver
unbound (or bind ). It is only necessary to install dnssec-trigger on mobile devices. For servers,
unbound should be sufficient although a forwarding configuration for the local domain might be required
depending on where the server is located (LAN or Internet). dnssec-trigger will currently only help with
the global public DNS zone. NetworkManager, dhclient, and VPN applications can often gather the
domain list (and nameserver list as well) automatically, but not dnssec-trigger nor unbound.

T o install unbound run the following command as the root user:

~]# yum install unbound

4 .6.7.2. Checking if unbound is Running

T o determine whether the unbound daemon is running, enter the following command:

~]$ systemctl status unbound

unbound.service - Unbound recursive Domain Name Server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/unbound.service; disabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2013-03-13 01:19:30 CET; 6h ago

T he system ctl status command will report unbound as Active: inactive (dead) if the
unbound service is not running.

4 .6.7.3. Starting unbound

T o start the unbound daemon for the current session, run the following command as the root user:

~]# systemctl start unbound

Run the system ctl enable command to ensure that unbound starts up every time the system boots:

83
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

~]# systemctl enable unbound

T he unbound daemon allows configuration of local data or overrides using the following directories:

T he /etc/unbound/conf.d directory is used to add configurations for a specific domain name. T his
is used to redirect queries for a domain name to a specific DNS server. T his is often used for sub-
domains that only exist within a corporate WAN.

T he /etc/unbound/keys.d directory is used to add trust anchors for a specific domain name. T his
is required when an internal-only name is DNSSEC signed, but there is no publicly existing DS record
to build a path of trust. Another use case is when an internal version of a domain is signed using a
different DNSKEY than the publicly available name outside the corporate WAN.

T he /etc/unbound/local.d directory is used to add specific DNS data as a local override. T his
can be used to build blacklists or create manual overrides. T his date will be returned to clients by
unbound, but it will not be marked as DNSSEC signed.

NetworkManager, as well as some VPN software, may change the configuration dynamically. T hese
configuration directories contain commented out example entries. For further information see the
unbound.conf(5) man page.

4 .6.7.4 . Installing Dnssec-trigger

T he dnssec-trigger application runs as a daemon, dnssec-triggerd. T o install dnssec-trigger run

the following command as the root user:

~]# yum install dnssec-trigger

4 .6.7.5. Checking if the Dnssec-trigger Daemon is Running

T o determine whether dnssec-triggerd is running, enter the following command:

~]$ systemctl status dnssec-triggerd

systemctl status dnssec-triggerd.service
dnssec-triggerd.service - Reconfigure local DNS(SEC) resolver on network change
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/dnssec-triggerd.service; enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2013-03-13 06:10:44 CET; 1h 41min ago

T he system ctl status command will report dnssec-triggerd as Active: inactive (dead) if
the dnssec-triggerd daemon is not running. T o start it for the current session run the following
command as the root user:

~]# systemctl start dnssec-triggerd

Run the system ctl enable command to ensure that dnssec-triggerd starts up every time the
system boots:

~]# systemctl enable dnssec-triggerd

4.6.8. Using Dnssec-trigger

T he dnssec-trigger application has a GNOME panel utility for displaying DNSSEC probe results and for
performing DNSSEC probe requests on demand. T o start the utility, press the Super key to enter the
Activities Overview, type DNSSEC and then press Enter. An icon resembling a ships anchor is added to

84
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

the message tray at the bottom of the screen. Press the round blue notification icon in the bottom right of
the screen to reveal it. Right click the anchor icon to display a pop-up menu.

In normal operations unbound is used locally as the name server, and resolv.conf points to
127.0.0.1. When you click OK on the Hotspot Sign-On panel this is changed. T he DNS servers are
queried from NetworkManager and put in resolv.conf. Now you can authenticate on the Hotspot's
sign-on page. T he anchor icon shows a big red exclamation mark to warn you that DNS queries are being
made insecurely. When authenticated, dnssec-trigger should automatically detect this and switch back to
secure mode, although in some cases it cannot and the user has to do this manually by selecting
Reprobe.

Dnssec-trigger does not normally require any user interaction. Once started, it works in the background
and if a problem is encountered it notifies the user by means of a pop-up text box. It also informs unbound
about changes to the resolv.conf file.

4.6.9. Using dig With DNSSEC

T o see whether DNSSEC is working, one can use various command line tools. T he best tool to use is the
dig command from the bind-utils package. Other tools that are useful are drill from the ldns package and
unbound-host from the unbound package. T he old DNS utilities nslookup and host are obsolete and
should not be used.

T o send a query requesting DNSSEC data using dig, the option +dnssec is added to the command, for
example:

~]$ dig +dnssec whitehouse.gov

; <<>> DiG 9.9.3-rl.13207.22-P2-RedHat-9.9.3-4.P2.el7 <<>> +dnssec whitehouse.gov
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 21388
;; flags: qr rd ra ad; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags: do; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;whitehouse.gov. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
whitehouse.gov. 20 IN A 72.246.36.110
whitehouse.gov. 20 IN RRSIG A 7 2 20 20130825124016 20130822114016 8399
whitehouse.gov. BB8VHWEkIaKpaLprt3hq1GkjDROvkmjYTBxiGhuki/BJn3PoIGyrftxR
HH0377I0Lsybj/uZv5hL4UwWd/lw6Gn8GPikqhztAkgMxddMQ2IARP6p
wbMOKbSUuV6NGUT1WWwpbi+LelFMqQcAq3Se66iyH0Jem7HtgPEUE1Zc 3oI=

;; Query time: 227 msec

;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Aug 22 22:01:52 EDT 2013
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 233

In addition to the A record, an RRSIG record is returned which contains the DNSSEC signature, as well as
the inception time and expiration time of the signature. T he unbound server indicated that the data was
DNSSEC authenticated by returning the ad bit in the flags: section at the top.

If DNSSEC validation fails, the dig command would return a SERVFAIL error:

~]$ dig badsign-a.test.dnssec-tools.org

; <<>> DiG 9.9.3-rl.156.01-P1-RedHat-9.9.3-3.P1.el7 <<>> badsign-a.test.dnssec-
tools.org

85
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

;; global options: +cmd

;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 1010
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;badsign-a.test.dnssec-tools.org. IN A

;; Query time: 1284 msec

;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Aug 22 22:04:52 EDT 2013
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 60]

T o request more information about the failure, DNSSEC checking can be disabled by specifying the +cd
option to the dig command:

~]$ dig +cd +dnssec badsign-a.test.dnssec-tools.org

; <<>> DiG 9.9.3-rl.156.01-P1-RedHat-9.9.3-3.P1.el7 <<>> +cd +dnssec badsign-
a.test.dnssec-tools.org
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 26065
;; flags: qr rd ra cd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags: do; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;badsign-a.test.dnssec-tools.org. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
badsign-a.test.dnssec-tools.org. 49 IN A 75.119.216.33
badsign-a.test.dnssec-tools.org. 49 IN RRSIG A 5 4 86400 20130919183720
20130820173720 19442 test.dnssec-tools.org.
E572dLKMvYB4cgTRyAHIKKEvdOP7tockQb7hXFNZKVbfXbZJOIDREJrr
zCgAfJ2hykfY0yJHAlnuQvM0s6xOnNBSvc2xLIybJdfTaN6kSR0YFdYZ
n2NpPctn2kUBn5UR1BJRin3Gqy20LZlZx2KD7cZBtieMsU/IunyhCSc0 kYw=

;; Query time: 1 msec

;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Aug 22 22:06:31 EDT 2013
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 257

Often, DNSSEC mistakes manifest themselves by bad inception or expiration time, although in this
example, the people at www.dnssec-tools.org have mangled this RRSIG signature on purpose, which we
would not be able to detect by looking at this output manually. T he error will show in the output of
system ctl status unbound and the unbound daemon logs these errors to syslog as follows:

Aug 22 22:04:52 laptop unbound: [3065:0] info: validation failure badsign-

a.test.dnssec-tools.org. A IN

An example using unbound-host:

~]$ unbound-host -C /etc/unbound/unbound.conf -v whitehouse.gov

whitehouse.gov has address 184.25.196.110 (secure)
whitehouse.gov has IPv6 address 2600:1417:11:2:8800::fc4 (secure)
whitehouse.gov has IPv6 address 2600:1417:11:2:8000::fc4 (secure)
whitehouse.gov mail is handled by 105 mail1.eop.gov. (secure)
whitehouse.gov mail is handled by 110 mail5.eop.gov. (secure)

86
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

whitehouse.gov mail is handled by 105 mail4.eop.gov. (secure)

whitehouse.gov mail is handled by 110 mail6.eop.gov. (secure)
whitehouse.gov mail is handled by 105 mail2.eop.gov. (secure)
whitehouse.gov mail is handled by 105 mail3.eop.gov. (secure)

4.6.10. Setting up Hotspot Detection Infrastructure for Dnssec-trigger

When connecting to a network, dnssec-trigger attempts to detect a Hotspot. A Hotspot is generally a
device that forces user interaction with a web page before they can use the network resources. T he
detection is done by attempting to download a specific fixed web page with known content. If there is a
Hotspot then the content received will not be as expected.

T o set up a fixed web page with known content that can be used by dnssec-trigger to detect a Hotspot,
proceed as follows:

1. Set up a web server on some machine that is publicly reachable on the Internet. See the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide for more information about web servers. .

2. Once you have the server running, publish a static page with known content on it. T he page does
not need to be a valid HT ML page. For example, you could use a plain-text file named hotspot.txt
that contains only the string OK. Assuming your server is located at exam ple.com and you
published your hotspot.txt file in the web server document_root/static/ sub-directory, then
the address to your static web page would be exam ple.com /static/hotspot.txt. See the
Docum entRoot directive in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide.

3. Add the following line to the /etc/dnssec-trigger/dnssec-trigger.conf file:

url: "http://example.com/static/hotspot.txt OK"

T his command adds a URL that is probed via HT T P (port 80). T he first part is the URL that will be
resolved and the page that will be downloaded. T he second part of the command is the text string
that the downloaded webpage is expected to contain.

For more information on the configuration options see the man page dnssec-trigger.conf(8).

4.6.11. Configuring DNSSEC Validation for Connection Supplied Domains

By default, forward zones with proper nameservers are automatically added into unbound by dnssec-
trigger for every domain provided by any connection, except Wi-Fi connections, through
NetworkManager. By default, all forward zones added into unbound are DNSSEC validated.

T he default behavior for validating forward zones can be altered, so that all forward zones will not be
DNSSEC validated by default. T o do this, change the validate_connection_provided_zones
variable in the dnssec-trigger configuration file /etc/dnssec.conf. As root user, open and edit the
line as follows:

validate_connection_provided_zones=no

T he change is not done for any existing forward zones, but only for future forward zones. T herefore if you
want to disable DNSSEC for the current provided domain, you need to reconnect.

4 .6.11.1. Configuring DNSSEC Validation for Wi-Fi Supplied Domains

Adding forward zones for Wi-Fi provided zones can be enabled. T o do this, change the
add_wifi_provided_zones variable in the dnssec-trigger configuration file /etc/dnssec.conf. As
root user, open and edit the line as follows:

87
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

add_wifi_provided_zones=yes

T he change is not done for any existing forward zones, but only for future forward zones. T herefore if you
want to enable DNSSEC for the current Wi-Fi provided domain, you need to reconnect (restart) the Wi-Fi
connection.

Warning

T urning on the addition of Wi-Fi provided domains as forward zones into unbound may have
security implications such as:

1. A Wi-Fi access point can intentionally provide you a domain via DHCP for which it does not
have authority and route all your DNS queries to its DNS servers.
2. If you have the DNSSEC validation of forward zones turned off, the Wi-Fi provided DNS
servers can spoof the IP address for domain names from the provided domain without you
knowing it.

4.6.12. Additional Resources

T he following are resources which explain more about DNSSEC.

4 .6.12.1. Installed Documentation

dnssec-trigger(8) man page — Describes command options for dnssec-triggerd, dnssec-

trigger-control and dnssec-trigger-panel.

dnssec-trigger.conf(8) man page — Describes the configuration options for dnssec-

triggerd.

unbound(8) man page — Describes the command options for unbound, the DNS validating resolver.

unbound.conf(5) man page — Contains information to configure unbound.

resolv.conf(5) man page — Contains information that is read by the resolver routines.

4 .6.12.2. Online Documentation

http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4 033

RFC 4033 DNS Security Introduction and Requirements.

http://www.dnssec.net/

A website with links to many DNSSEC resources.

http://www.dnssec-deployment.org/

T he DNSSEC Deployment Initiative, sponsored by the Department for Homeland Security,

contains a lot of DNSSEC information and has a mailing list to discuss DNSSEC deployment
issues.

http://www.internetsociety.org/deploy360/dnssec/community/

T he Internet Society's “Deploy 360” initiative to stimulate and coordinate DNSSEC deployment is
a good resource for finding communities and DNSSEC activities worldwide.

88
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

http://www.unbound.net/

T his document contains general information about the unbound DNS service.

http://www.nlnetlabs.nl/projects/dnssec-trigger/

T his document contains general information about dnssec-trigger.

4.7. Securing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be configured using the IPsec
tunneling protocol which is supported by the Libreswan application. Libreswan is a fork of the
Openswan application and examples in documentation should be interchangeable. T he
NetworkManager IPsec plug-in is called NetworkManager-libreswan. Users of GNOME Shell should
install the NetworkManager-libreswan-gnome package which has NetworkManager-libreswan as a
dependency.

Libreswan is an open source, user space IPsec implementation available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
It uses the Internet key exchange (IKE) protocol. IKE version 1 and 2 are implemented as a user-level
daemon. Manual key establishment is also possible via ip xfrm commands, however this is not
recommended. Libreswan interfaces with the Linux kernel using netlink to transfer the encryption keys.
Packet encryption and decryption happen in the Linux kernel.

Libreswan uses the network security services (NSS) cryptographic library, which is required for Federal
Information Processing Standard (FIPS) security compliance.

4.7.1. IPsec VPN Using Libreswan

T o install Libreswan, issue the following command as root:

~]# yum install libreswan

T o check that Libreswan is installed, issue the following command:

~]$ yum info libreswan

After a new installation of Libreswan the NSS database should be initialized as part of the install process.
However, should you need to start a new database, first remove the old database as follows:

~]# rm /etc/ipsec.d/*db

T hen, to initialize a new NSS database, issue the following command as root:

~]# ipsec initnss

Enter a password which will be used to encrypt your keys.
The password should be at least 8 characters long,
and should contain at least one non-alphabetic character.

Enter new password:

Re-enter password:

If you do not wish to use a password for NSS, just press Enter twice when prompted for the password. If
you do enter a password then you will have to re-enter it every time Libreswan is started, such as every
time the system is booted.

89
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T o check if the ipsec daemon provided by Libreswan is running, issue the following command:

~]$ systemctl status ipsec

ipsec.service - Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol Daemon for IPsec
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/ipsec.service; disabled)
Active: inactive (dead)

T o start the ipsec daemon provided by Libreswan, issue the following command as root:

~]# systemctl start ipsec

T o confirm that the daemon is now running:

~]$ systemctl status ipsec

ipsec.service - Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol Daemon for IPsec
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/ipsec.service; disabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2013-08-21 12:14:12 CEST; 18s ago

T o ensure that Libreswan will start when the system starts, issue the following command as root:

~]# systemctl enable ipsec

Configure any intermediate as well as host-based firewalls to permit the ipsec service. See Section 4.5,
“Using Firewalls” for information on firewalls and allowing specific services to pass through. Libreswan
requires the firewall to allow the following packets:

UDP port 500 for the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol

UDP port 4500 for IKE NAT -T raversal

Protocol 50 for Encapsulated Security Payload (ESP) IPsec packets

Protocol 51 for Authenticated Header (AH) IPsec packets (uncommon)

We present three examples of using Libreswan to set up an IPsec VPN. T he first example is for
connecting two hosts together so that they may communicate securely. T he second example is connecting
two sites together to form one network. T he third example is supporting roaming users, known as road
warriors in this context.

4.7.2. VPN Configurations Using Libreswan

Libreswan does not use the terms “source” or “destination”. Instead, it uses the terms “left” and “right” to
refer to end points (the hosts). T his allows the same configuration to be used on both end points in most
cases, although most administrators use “left” for the local host and “right” for the remote host.

T here are three commonly used methods for authentication of endpoints:

Pre-Shared Keys (PSK) is the simplest authentication method. PSK's should consist of random
characters and have a length of at least 20 characters. Due to the dangers of non-random and short
PSKs, this method is not available when the system is running in FIPS mode

Raw RSA keys are commonly used for static host-to-host or subnet-to-subnet IPsec configurations.
T he hosts are manually configured with each other's public RSA key. T his method does not scale well
when dozens or more hosts all need to setup IPsec tunnels to each other.

90
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

X.509 certificates are commonly used for large scale deployments where there are many hosts that
need to connect to a common IPsec gateway. A central certificate authority (CA) is used to sign RSA
certificates for hosts or users. T his central CA is responsible for relaying trust, including the
revocations of individual hosts or users.

4.7.3. Host-To-Host VPN Using Libreswan

T o configure Libreswan to create a host-to-host IPsec VPN, between two hosts referred to as “left” and
“right”, enter the following commands as root on the host called “left” to create a new raw RSA key pair:

~]# ipsec newhostkey --configdir /etc/ipsec.d \

--output /etc/ipsec.d/www.example.com.secrets
Generated RSA key pair using the NSS database

T his generates an RSA key pair for the host. T he process of generating RSA keys can take many minutes,
especially on virtual machines with low entropy.

T o view the public key, issue the following command as root, on the host referred to as “left”:

~]# ipsec showhostkey --left

# rsakey AQOrlo+hO
leftrsasigkey=0sAQOrlo+hOafUZDlCQmXFrje/oZm [...] W2n417C/4urYHQkCvuIQ==

You will need this key to add to the configuration file as explained below.

Enter the following commands as root on the host referred to as “right”:

~]# ipsec newhostkey --configdir /etc/ipsec.d \

--output /etc/ipsec.d/www.example.com.secrets
Generated RSA key pair using the NSS database

T o view the public key, issue the following command as root on the host referred to as “right”:

~]# ipsec showhostkey --right

# rsakey AQO3fwC6n
rightrsasigkey=0sAQO3fwC6nSSGgt64DWiYZzuHbc4 [...] D/v8t5YTQ==

You will need this key to add to the configuration file.

T he secret part is stored in /etc/ipsec.d/* .db files, also called the “NSS database”.

T o make a configuration file for this host-to-host tunnel, the lines leftrsasigkey= and
rightrsasigkey= from above, are added to a custom configuration file placed in the /etc/ipsec.d/
directory. T o enable Libreswan to read the custom configurations files, use an editor running as root to
edit the main configuration file, /etc/ipsec.conf, and enable the following line by removing the #
comment character so that it looks as follows:

include /etc/ipsec.d/*.conf

Using an editor running as root, create a file with a suitable name in the following format:

/etc/ipsec.d/my_host-to-host.conf

Edit the file as follows:

91
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

conn mytunnel
[email protected]
left=192.1.2.23
leftrsasigkey=0sAQOrlo+hOafUZDlCQmXFrje/oZm [...] W2n417C/4urYHQkCvuIQ==
[email protected]
right=192.1.2.45
rightrsasigkey=0sAQO3fwC6nSSGgt64DWiYZzuHbc4 [...] D/v8t5YTQ==
authby=rsasig
# load and initiate automatically
auto=start

You can use the identical configuration file on both left and right hosts. T hey will auto-detect if they are
“left” or “right”. If one of the hosts is a mobile host, which implies the IP address is not known in advance,
then on the mobile host use %defaultroute as its IP address. T his will pick up the dynamic IP address
automatically. On the static host that accepts connections from incoming mobile hosts, specify the mobile
host using %any for its IP address.

Ensure the leftrsasigkey value is obtained from the “left” host and the rightrsasigkey value is
obtained from the “right” host.

Restart ipsec to ensure it reads the new configuration:

~]# systemctl restart ipsec

Issue the following command as root to load the IPsec tunnel:

~]# ipsec auto --add mytunnel

T o bring up the tunnel, issue the following command as root, on the left or the right side:

~]# ipsec auto --up mytunnel

4 .7.3.1. Verify Host-T o-Host VPN Using Libreswan

T he IKE negotiation takes place on UDP port 500. IPsec packets show up as Encapsulated
Security Payload (ESP) packets. When the VPN connection needs to pass through a NAT router, the
ESP packets are encapsulated in UDP packets on port 4500.

T o verify that packets are being sent via the VPN tunnel issue a command as root in the following format:

~]# tcpdump -n -i interface esp and udp port 500 and udp port 4500
00:32:32.632165 IP 192.1.2.45 > 192.1.2.23: ESP(spi=0x63ad7e17,seq=0x1a), length 132
00:32:32.632592 IP 192.1.2.23 > 192.1.2.45: ESP(spi=0x4841b647,seq=0x1a), length 132
00:32:32.632592 IP 192.0.2.254 > 192.0.1.254: ICMP echo reply, id 2489, seq 7,
length 64
00:32:33.632221 IP 192.1.2.45 > 192.1.2.23: ESP(spi=0x63ad7e17,seq=0x1b), length 132
00:32:33.632731 IP 192.1.2.23 > 192.1.2.45: ESP(spi=0x4841b647,seq=0x1b), length 132
00:32:33.632731 IP 192.0.2.254 > 192.0.1.254: ICMP echo reply, id 2489, seq 8,
length 64
00:32:34.632183 IP 192.1.2.45 > 192.1.2.23: ESP(spi=0x63ad7e17,seq=0x1c), length 132
00:32:34.632607 IP 192.1.2.23 > 192.1.2.45: ESP(spi=0x4841b647,seq=0x1c), length 132
00:32:34.632607 IP 192.0.2.254 > 192.0.1.254: ICMP echo reply, id 2489, seq 9,
length 64
00:32:35.632233 IP 192.1.2.45 > 192.1.2.23: ESP(spi=0x63ad7e17,seq=0x1d), length 132
00:32:35.632685 IP 192.1.2.23 > 192.1.2.45: ESP(spi=0x4841b647,seq=0x1d), length 132
00:32:35.632685 IP 192.0.2.254 > 192.0.1.254: ICMP echo reply, id 2489, seq 10,
length 64

92
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

Where interface is the interface known to carry the traffic. T o end the capture with tcpdump, press
Ctrl+C.

Note

T he tcpdump commands interacts a little unexpectedly with IPsec. It only sees the outgoing
encrypted packet, not the outgoing plaintext packet. It does see the encrypted incoming packet, as
well as the decrypted incoming packet. If possible, run tcpdump on a router between the two
machines and not on one of the endpoints itself.

4.7.4. Site-to-Site VPN Using Libreswan

In order for Libreswan to create a site-to-site IPsec VPN, joining together two networks, an IPsec tunnel
is created between two hosts, endpoints, which are configured to permit traffic from one or more subnets
to pass through. T hey can therefore be thought of as gateways to the remote portion of the network. T he
configuration of the site-to-site VPN only differs from the host-to-host VPN in that one or more networks or
subnets must be specified in the configuration file.

T o configure Libreswan to create a site-to-site IPsec VPN, first configure a host-to-host IPsec VPN as
described in Section 4.7.3, “Host-T o-Host VPN Using Libreswan” and then copy or move the file to a file
with suitable name such as /etc/ipsec.d/m y_site-to-site.conf. Using an editor running as root,
edit the custom configuration file /etc/ipsec.d/m y_site-to-site.conf as follows:

conn mysubnet
also=mytunnel
leftsubnet=192.0.1.0/24
rightsubnet=192.0.2.0/24

conn mysubnet6
also=mytunnel
connaddrfamily=ipv6
leftsubnet=2001:db8:0:1::/64
rightsubnet=2001:db8:0:2::/64

conn mytunnel
auto=start
[email protected]
left=192.1.2.23
leftrsasigkey=0sAQOrlo+hOafUZDlCQmXFrje/oZm [...] W2n417C/4urYHQkCvuIQ==
[email protected]
right=192.1.2.45
rightrsasigkey=0sAQO3fwC6nSSGgt64DWiYZzuHbc4 [...] D/v8t5YTQ==
authby=rsasig

T o bring the tunnels up, restart Libreswan or manually load and initiate all the connections using the
following commands as root:

~]# ipsec auto --add mysubnet

~]# ipsec auto --add mysubnet6

~]# ipsec auto --add mytunnel

93
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

~]# ipsec auto --up mysubnet

104 "mysubnet" #1: STATE_MAIN_I1: initiate
003 "mysubnet" #1: received Vendor ID payload [Dead Peer Detection]
003 "mytunnel" #1: received Vendor ID payload [FRAGMENTATION]
106 "mysubnet" #1: STATE_MAIN_I2: sent MI2, expecting MR2
108 "mysubnet" #1: STATE_MAIN_I3: sent MI3, expecting MR3
003 "mysubnet" #1: received Vendor ID payload [CAN-IKEv2]
004 "mysubnet" #1: STATE_MAIN_I4: ISAKMP SA established {auth=OAKLEY_RSA_SIG
cipher=aes_128 prf=oakley_sha group=modp2048}
117 "mysubnet" #2: STATE_QUICK_I1: initiate
004 "mysubnet" #2: STATE_QUICK_I2: sent QI2, IPsec SA established tunnel mode
{ESP=>0x9414a615 <0x1a8eb4ef xfrm=AES_128-HMAC_SHA1 NATOA=none NATD=none DPD=none}

~]# ipsec auto --up mysubnet6

003 "mytunnel" #1: received Vendor ID payload [FRAGMENTATION]
117 "mysubnet" #2: STATE_QUICK_I1: initiate
004 "mysubnet" #2: STATE_QUICK_I2: sent QI2, IPsec SA established tunnel mode
{ESP=>0x06fe2099 <0x75eaa862 xfrm=AES_128-HMAC_SHA1 NATOA=none NATD=none DPD=none}

~]# ipsec auto --up mytunnel

104 "mytunnel" #1: STATE_MAIN_I1: initiate
003 "mytunnel" #1: received Vendor ID payload [Dead Peer Detection]
003 "mytunnel" #1: received Vendor ID payload [FRAGMENTATION]
106 "mytunnel" #1: STATE_MAIN_I2: sent MI2, expecting MR2
108 "mytunnel" #1: STATE_MAIN_I3: sent MI3, expecting MR3
003 "mytunnel" #1: received Vendor ID payload [CAN-IKEv2]
004 "mytunnel" #1: STATE_MAIN_I4: ISAKMP SA established {auth=OAKLEY_RSA_SIG
cipher=aes_128 prf=oakley_sha group=modp2048}
117 "mytunnel" #2: STATE_QUICK_I1: initiate
004 "mytunnel" #2: STATE_QUICK_I2: sent QI2, IPsec SA established tunnel mode
{ESP=>0x9414a615 >0x1a8eb4ef xfrm=AES_128-HMAC_SHA1 NATOA=none NATD=none DPD=none}

4 .7.4 .1. Verify Site-to-Site VPN Using Libreswan

Verifying that packets are being sent via the VPN tunnel is the same procedure as explained in
Section 4.7.3.1, “Verify Host-T o-Host VPN Using Libreswan”.

4.7.5. Site-to-Site Single Tunnel VPN Using Libreswan

Often, when a site-to-site tunnel is built, the gateways need to communicate with each other using their
internal IP addresses instead of their public IP addresses. T his can be accomplished using a single
tunnel. If the left host, with host name west, has internal IP address 192.0.1.254 and the right host,
with host name east, has internal IP address 192.0.2.254 , the following configuration using a single
tunnel can be used:

conn mysubnet
[email protected]
leftrsasigkey=0sAQOrlo+hOafUZDlCQmXFrje/oZm [...] W2n417C/4urYHQkCvuIQ==
left=192.1.2.23
leftsourceip=192.0.1.254
leftsubnet=192.0.1.0/24
[email protected]
rightrsasigkey=0sAQO3fwC6nSSGgt64DWiYZzuHbc4 [...] D/v8t5YTQ==
right=192.1.2.45
rightsourceip=192.0.2.254
rightsubnet=192.0.2.0/24
auto=start
authby=rsasig

94
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

4.7.6. Subnet Extrusion Using Libreswan

Often IPsec is deployed in a hub-and-spoke architecture. Each leaf node has an IP range that is part of
a larger range. Leaves communicate with each other via the hub. T his is called subnet extrusion. In the
example below we configure the head office with 10.0.0.0/8 and two branches that use a smaller /24
subnet.

At the head office:

conn branch1
left=1.2.3.4
leftid=@headoffice
leftsubnet=0.0.0.0/0
leftrsasigkey=0sA[...]
#
right=5.6.7.8
rightid=@branch1
righsubnet=10.0.1.0/24
rightrsasigkey=0sAXXXX[...]
#
auto=start
authby=rsasigkey

conn branch2
left=1.2.3.4
leftid=@headoffice
leftsubnet=0.0.0.0/0
leftrsasigkey=0sA[...]
#
right=10.11.12.13
rightid=@branch2
righsubnet=10.0.2.0/24
rightrsasigkey=0sAYYYY[...]
#
auto=start
authby=rsasigkey

At the “branch1” office we use the same connection. Additionally we use a pass-through connection to
exclude our local LAN traffic from being sent through the tunnel:

conn branch1
left=1.2.3.4
leftid=@headoffice
leftsubnet=0.0.0.0/0
leftrsasigkey=0sA[...]
#
right=10.11.12.13
rightid=@branch2
righsubnet=10.0.1.0/24
rightrsasigkey=0sAYYYY[...]
#
auto=start
authby=rsasigkey

conn passthrough
left=1.2.3.4
right=0.0.0.0
leftsubnet=10.0.1.0/24

95
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

rightsubnet=10.0.1.0/24
authby=never
type=passthrough
auto=route

4.7.7. Road Warrior Application Using Libreswan

Road Warriors are traveling users with mobile clients with a dynamically assigned IP address, such as
laptops. T hese are authenticated using certificates.

On the server:

conn roadwarriors
left=1.2.3.4
# if access to the LAN is given, enable this
#leftsubnet=10.10.0.0/16
leftcert=gw.example.com
leftid=%fromcert
right=%any
# trust our own Certificate Agency
rightca=%same
# allow clients to be behind a NAT router
rightsubnet=vhost:%priv,%no
authby=rsasigkey
# load connection, don't initiate
auto=add
# kill vanished roadwarriors
dpddelay=30
dpdtimeout=120
dpdaction=%clear

On the mobile client, the Road Warrior's device, we need to use a slight variation of the above
configuration:

conn roadwarriors
# pick up our dynamic IP
left=%defaultroute
leftcert=myname.example.com
leftid=%fromcert
# right can also be a DNS hostname
right=1.2.3.4
# if access to the remote LAN is required, enable this
#rightsubnet=10.10.0.0/16
# trust our own Certificate Agency
rightca=%same
authby=rsasigkey
# Initiate connection
auto=start

4.7.8. Road Warrior Application Using Libreswan and XAUTH with X.509
Libreswan offers a method to natively assign IP address and DNS information to roaming VPN clients as
the connection is established by using the XAUT H IPsec extension. XAUT H can be deployed using PSK
or X.509 certificates. Deploying using X.509 is more secure. Client certificates can be revoked by a
certificate revocation list or by Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP). With X.509 certificates, individual
clients cannot impersonate the server. With a PSK, also called Group Password, this is theoretically
possible.

96
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

XAUT H requires the VPN client to additionally identify itself with a user name and password. For One time
Passwords (OT P), such as Google Authenticator or RSA SecureID tokens, the one-time token is
appended to the user password.

T here are three possible backends for XAUT H:

xauthby=pam

T his uses the configuration in /etc/pam .d/pluto to authenticate the user. Pam can be
configured to use various backends by itself. It can use the system account user-password
scheme, an LDAP directory, a RADIUS server or a custom password authentication module.

xauthby=file

T his uses the configuration file /etc/ipsec.d/passwd (not to be confused with

/etc/ipsec.d/nsspassword). T he format of this file is similar to the Apache .htpasswd file
and the Apache htpasswd command can be used to create entries in this file. However, after the
user name and password, a third column is required with the connection name of the IPsec
connection used, for example when using a "conn remoteusers" to offer VPN to remove users, a
password file entry should look as follows:

user1:$apr1$MIwQ3DHb$1I69LzTnZhnCT2DPQmAOK.:remoteusers

NOT E: when using the htpasswd command, the connection name has to be manually added after
the user:password part on each line.

xauthby=alwaysok

T he server will always pretend the XAUT H user and password combination was correct. T he
client still has to specify a user name and a password, although the server ignores these. T his
should only be used when users are already identified by X.509 certificates, or when testing the
VPN without needing an XAUT H backend.

An example configuration with X.509 certificates:

conn xauth-rsa
auto=add
authby=rsasig
pfs=no
rekey=no
left=ServerIP
leftcert=vpn.example.com
#leftid=%fromcert
leftid=vpn.example.com
leftsendcert=always
leftsubnet=0.0.0.0/0
rightaddresspool=10.234.123.2-10.234.123.254
right=%any
rightrsasigkey=%cert
modecfgdns1=1.2.3.4
modecfgdns2=8.8.8.8
modecfgdomain=example.com
modecfgbanner="Authorized Access is allowed"
leftxauthserver=yes
rightxauthclient=yes
leftmodecfgserver=yes
rightmodecfgclient=yes
modecfgpull=yes
xauthby=pam
dpddelay=30

97
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

dpdtimeout=120
dpdaction=clear
ike_frag=yes
# for walled-garden on xauth failure
# xauthfail=soft
#leftupdown=/custom/_updown

When xauthfail is set to soft, instead of hard, authentication failures are ignored and the VPN is setup
as if the user authenticated properly. A custom updown script can be used to check for the environment
variable XAUT H_FAILED. Such users can then be redirected, for example using iptables DNAT , to a
“walled garden” where can they contact the administrator, or renew a paid subscription to the service.

VPN clients use the m odecfgdom ain value and the DNS entries to redirect queries for the specified
domain to these specified nameservers. T his allows roaming users to access internal-only resources
using the internal DNS names.

If leftsubnet is not 0.0.0.0/0, split tunneling configuration requests are sent automatically to the
client. For example, when using leftsubnet=10.0.0.0/8, the VPN client would only send traffic for
10.0.0.0/8 through the VPN.

4.7.9. Additional Resources

T he following sources of information provide additional resources regarding LibreSwan and the ipsec
daemon.

4 .7.9.1. Installed Documentation

ipsec(8) man page — Describes command options for ipsec.

ipsec.conf(5) man page — Contains information to configure ipsec.

ipsec.secrets(5) man page — Contains information to configure ipsec.

ipsec_auto(8) man page — Describes the use of the auto command line client for manipulating
automatically-keyed LibreSwan IPsec connections.

ipsec_rsasigkey(8) man page — Describes the tool used to generate RSA signature keys.

/usr/share/doc/libreswan-version/README.nss — Describes the commands for using raw

RSA keys and certificates with the NSS crypto library used with the Libreswan pluto daemon.

4 .7.9.2. Online Documentation

https://libreswan.org

T he website of the upstream project.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/

Network Security Services (NSS) project.

4.8. Using OpenSSL

OpenSSL is a library that provides cryptographic protocols to applications. T he openssl command line
utility enables using the cryptographic functions from the shell. It includes an interactive mode.

98
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T he openssl command line utility has a number of pseudo-commands to provide information on the
commands that the version of openssl installed on the system supports. T he pseudo-commands list-
standard-com m ands, list-m essage-digest-com m ands, and list-cipher-com m ands output a
list of all standard commands, message digest commands, or cipher commands, respectively, that are
available in the present openssl utility.

T he pseudo-commands list-cipher-algorithm s and list-m essage-digest-algorithm s list

all cipher and message digest names. T he pseudo-command list-public-key-algorithm s lists all
supported public key algorithms. For example, to list the supported public key algorithms, issue the
following command:

~]$ openssl list-public-key-algorithms

T he pseudo-command no-command-name tests whether a command-name of the specified name is

available. Intended for use in shell scripts. See man openssl(1) for more information.

4.8.1. Creating and Managing Encryption Keys

With OpenSSL, public keys are derived from the corresponding private key. T herefore the first step, once
having decided on the algorithm, is to generate the private key. In these examples the private key is
referred to as privkey.pem. For example, to create an RSA private key using default parameters, issue the
following command:

~]$ openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out privkey.pem

T he RSA algorithm supports the following options:

rsa_keygen_bits:num bits — T he number of bits in the generated key. If not specified 1024 is
used.

rsa_keygen_pubexp:value — T he RSA public exponent value. T his can be a large decimal value,
or a hexadecimal value if preceded by 0x. T he default value is 65537.

For example, to create a 2048 bit RSA private key using using 3 as the public exponent, issue the
following command:

~]$ openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out privkey.pem -pkeyopt

rsa_keygen_bits:2048 \ -pkeyopt rsa_keygen_pubexp:3

T o encrypt the private key, as it is output, using 128 bit AES and the passphrase “hello”, issue the
following command:

~]$ openssl genpkey -algorithm RSA -out privkey.pem -aes-128-cbc -pass

pass:hello

See man genpkey(1) for more information on generating private keys.

4.8.2. Generating Certificates

T o generate a certificate using OpenSSL, it is necessary to have a private key available. In these
examples the private key is referred to as privkey.pem. If you have not yet generated a private key, see
Section 4.8.1, “Creating and Managing Encryption Keys”

T o have a certificate signed by a certificate authority (CA), it is necessary to generate a certificate and
then send it to a CA for signing. T his is referred to as a certificate signing request. See Section 4.8.2.1,
“Creating a Certificate Signing Request” for more information. T he alternative is to create a self-signed

99
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

certificate. See Section 4.8.2.2, “Creating a Self-signed Certificate” for more information.

4 .8.2.1. Creating a Certificate Signing Request

T o create a certificate for submission to a CA, issue a command in the following format:

~]$ openssl req -new -key privkey.pem -out cert.csr

T his will create an X.509 certificate called cert.csr encoded in the default privacy-enhanced electronic
mail (PEM) format. T he name PEM is derived from “Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail”
described in RFC 1424. T o generate a certificate file in the alternative DER format, use the -outform
DER command option.

After issuing the above command, you will be prompted for information about you and the organization in
order to create a distinguished name ( DN) for the certificate. You will need the following information:

T he two letter country code for your country

T he full name of your state or province

City or T own

T he name of your organization

T he name of the unit within your organization

Your name or the host name of the system

Your email address

T he req(1) man page describes the PKCS# 10 certificate request and generating utility. Default settings
used in the certificate creating process are contained within the /etc/pki/tls/openssl.cnf file. See
man openssl.cnf(5) for more information.

4 .8.2.2. Creating a Self-signed Certificate

T o generate a self-signed certificate, valid for 366 days, issue a command in the following format:

~]$ openssl req -new -x509 -key privkey.pem -out selfcert.pem -days 366

4 .8.2.3. Creating a Certificate Using a Makefile

T he /etc/pki/tls/certs directory contains a Makefile which can be used to create certificates

using the m ake command. T o view the usage instructions, issue a command as follows:

~]$ make -f /etc/pki/tls/certs/Makefile

Alternatively, change to the directory and issue the m ake command as follows:

~]$ cd /etc/pki/tls/certs/
~]$ make

See the m ake(1) man page for more information.

4.8.3. Verifying Certificates

A certificate signed by a CA is referred to as a trusted certificate. A self-signed certificate is therefore an

100
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

untrusted certificate. T he verify utility uses the same SSL and S/MIME functions to verify a certificate as is
used by OpenSSL in normal operation. If an error is found it is reported and then an attempt is made to
continue testing in order to report any other errors.

T o verify multiple individual X.509 certificates in PEM format, issue a command in the following format:

~]$ openssl verify cert1.pem cert2.pem

T o verify a certificate chain the leaf certificate must be in cert.pem and the intermediate certificates
which you do not trust must be directly concatenated in untrusted.pem . T he trusted root CA certificate
must be either among the default CA listed in /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt or in a
cacert.pem file. T hen, to very the chain, issue a command in the following format:

~]$ openssl verify -untrusted untrusted.pem -CAfile cacert.pem cert.pem

See man verify(1) for more information.

4.8.4. Encrypting and Decrypting a File

T o encrypt a file plaintext, issue a command as follows:

~]$ openssl pkeyutl -in plaintext -out cyphertext -inkey privkey.pem

T he default format for keys and certificates is PEM. If required, use the -keyform DER command to
specify the DER key format.

T o specify a cryptographic engine, use the -engine command as follows:

~]$ openssl pkeyutl -in plaintext -out cyphertext -inkey privkey.pem -engine id

Where id is the ID of the cryptographic graphic engine. T o check the availability of an engine, issue the
following command:

~]$ openssl engine -t

T o sign a data file, plaintext, issue a command as follows:

~]$ openssl pkeyutl -sign -in plaintext -out sigtext -inkey privkey.pem

T o verify a signed data file and to extract the data, issue a command as follows:

~]$ openssl pkeyutl -verifyrecover -in sig -inkey key.pem

T o verify the signature, for example using a DSA key, issue a command as follows:

~]$ openssl pkeyutl -verify -in file -sigfile sig -inkey key.pem

T he pkeyutl(1) man page describes the public key algorithm utility.

4.8.5. Generating Message Digests

T he dgst command produces the message digest of a supplied file or files in hexadecimal form. T he
command can also be used for digital signing and verification. T he message digest command takes the
following form:

101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

openssl dgst algorithm -out filename -sign private-key

Where algorithm is one of m d5|m d4 |m d2|sha1|sha|m dc2|ripem d160|dss1. At time of writing, the
SHA1 algorithm is preferred. If you need to sign or verify using DSA, then the dss1 option must be used
together with a file containing random data specified by the -rand option.

T o produce a message digest in the default Hex format using the sha1 algorithm, issue the following
command:

~]$ openssl dgst sha1 -out digest-file

T o digitally sign the digest, using a private key privekey.pem, issue the following command:

~]$ openssl dgst sha1 -out digest-file -sign privkey.pem

See man dgst(1) for more information.

4.8.6. Generating Password Hashes

T he passwd command computes the hash of a password. T o compute the hash of a password on the
command line, issue a command as follows:

~]$ openssl passwd password

T he -crypt algorithm is used by default.

T o compute the hash of a password from standard input, using the MD5 based BSD algorithm 1, issue a
command as follows:

~]$ openssl passwd -1 password

T he -apr1 option specifies the Apache variant of the BSD algorithm.

T o compute the hash of a password stored in a file, and using a salt xx, issue a command as follows:

~]$ openssl passwd -salt xx -in password-file

T he password is sent to standard output and there is no -out option to specify an output file. T he -
table will generate a table of password hashes with their corresponding clear text password.

See man sslpasswd(1) for more information and examples.

4.8.7. Generating Random Data

T o generate a file containing random data, using a seed file, issue the following command:

~]$ openssl rand -out rand-file -rand seed-file

Multiple files for seeding the random data process can be specified using the colon, :, as a list separator.

See man rand(1) for more information.

4.8.8. Benchmarking Your System

102
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T o test the computational speed of a system for a given algorithm, issue a command in the following
format:

~]$ openssl speed algorithm

where algorithm is one of the supported algorithms you intended to use. T o list the available algorithms,
type openssl speed and then press tab.

4.8.9. Configuring OpenSSL

OpenSSL has a configuration file /etc/pki/tls/openssl.cnf, referred to as the master configuration
file, which is read by the OpenSSL library. It is also possible to have individual configuration files for each
application. T he configuration file contains a number of sections with section names as follows: [
section_nam e ]. Note the first part of the file, up until the first [ section_nam e ], is referred to as
the default section. When OpenSSL is searching for names in the configuration file the named sections are
searched first. All OpenSSL commands use the master OpenSSL configuration file unless an option is
used in the command to specify an alternative configuration file. T he configuration file is explained in detail
in the config(5) man page.

T wo RFCs explain the contents of a certificate file. T hey are:

Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile

Updates to the Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL)
Profile

4.9. Encryption

4.9.1. Using LUKS Disk Encryption

Linux Unified Key Setup-on-disk-format (or LUKS) allows you to encrypt partitions on your Linux computer.
T his is particularly important when it comes to mobile computers and removable media. LUKS allows
multiple user keys to decrypt a master key which is used for the bulk encryption of the partition.

Overview of LUKS
What LUKS does

LUKS encrypts entire block devices and is therefore well-suited for protecting the contents of
mobile devices such as removable storage media or laptop disk drives.

T he underlying contents of the encrypted block device are arbitrary. T his makes it useful for
encrypting swap devices. T his can also be useful with certain databases that use specially
formatted block devices for data storage.

LUKS uses the existing device mapper kernel subsystem.

LUKS provides passphrase strengthening which protects against dictionary attacks.

LUKS devices contain multiple key slots, allowing users to add backup keys/passphrases.

What LUKS does not do:

LUKS is not well-suited for applications requiring many (more than eight) users to have distinct
access keys to the same device.

LUKS is not well-suited for applications requiring file-level encryption.

103
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

4 .9.1.1. LUKS Implementation in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 utilizes LUKS to perform file system encryption. By default, the option to encrypt
the file system is unchecked during the installation. If you select the option to encrypt your hard drive, you
will be prompted for a passphrase that will be asked every time you boot the computer. T his passphrase
"unlocks" the bulk encryption key that is used to decrypt your partition. If you choose to modify the default
partition table you can choose which partitions you want to encrypt. T his is set in the partition table
settings.

T he default cipher used for LUKS (see cryptsetup --help) is aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 (ESSIV -
Encrypted Salt-Sector Initialization Vector). Note that the installation program, Anaconda, uses by default
XT S mode (aes-xts-plain64). T he default key size for LUKS is 256 bits. T he default key size for LUKS with
Anaconda (XT S mode) is 512 bits. Ciphers that are available are:

AES - Advanced Encryption Standard - FIPS PUB 197

T wofish (A 128-bit Block Cipher)

Serpent

cast5 - RFC 2144

cast6 - RFC 2612

4 .9.1.2. Manually Encrypting Directories

Warning

Following this procedure will remove all data on the partition that you are encrypting. You WILL lose
all your information! Make sure you backup your data to an external source before beginning this
procedure!

1. Enter runlevel 1 by typing the following at a shell prompt as root:

telinit 1

2. Unmount your existing /hom e:

umount /home

3. If the command in the previous step fails, use fuser to find processes hogging /hom e and kill
them:

fuser -mvk /home

4. Verify /hom e is no longer mounted:

grep home /proc/mounts

5. Fill your partition with random data:

shred -v --iterations=1 /dev/VG00/LV_home

104
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

T his command proceeds at the sequential write speed of your device and may take some time to
complete. It is an important step to ensure no unencrypted data is left on a used device, and to
obfuscate the parts of the device that contain encrypted data as opposed to just random data.

6. Initialize your partition:

cryptsetup --verbose --verify-passphrase luksFormat /dev/VG00/LV_home

7. Open the newly encrypted device:

cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/VG00/LV_home home

8. Make sure the device is present:

ls -l /dev/mapper | grep home

9. Create a file system:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/home

10. Mount the file system:

mount /dev/mapper/home /home

11. Make sure the file system is visible:

df -h | grep home

12. Add the following to the /etc/crypttab file:

home /dev/VG00/LV_home none

13. Edit the /etc/fstab file, removing the old entry for /hom e and adding the following line:

/dev/mapper/home /home ext3 defaults 1 2

14. Restore default SELinux security contexts:

/sbin/restorecon -v -R /home

15. Reboot the machine:

shutdown -r now

16. T he entry in the /etc/crypttab makes your computer ask your luks passphrase on boot.

17. Log in as root and restore your backup.

You now have an encrypted partition for all of your data to safely rest while the computer is off.

4 .9.1.3. Add a new passphrase to an existing device

Use the following command to add a new passphrase to an existing device:

105
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

cryptsetup luksAddKey <device>

After being prompted for any one of the existing passprases for authentication, you will be prompted to
enter the new passphrase.

4 .9.1.4 . Remove a passphrase from an existing device

Use the following command to remove a passphrase from an existing device:

cryptsetup luksRemoveKey <device>

You will be prompted for the passphrase you wish to remove and then for any one of the remaining
passphrases for authentication.

4 .9.1.5. Creating Encrypted Block Devices in Anaconda

You can create encrypted devices during system installation. T his allows you to easily configure a system
with encrypted partitions.

T o enable block device encryption, check the Encrypt System check box when selecting automatic
partitioning or the Encrypt check box when creating an individual partition, software RAID array, or logical
volume. After you finish partitioning, you will be prompted for an encryption passphrase. T his passphrase
will be required to access the encrypted devices. If you have pre-existing LUKS devices and provided
correct passphrases for them earlier in the install process the passphrase entry dialog will also contain a
check box. Checking this check box indicates that you would like the new passphrase to be added to an
available slot in each of the pre-existing encrypted block devices.

Note

Checking the Encrypt System check box on the Autom atic Partitioning screen and then
choosing Create custom layout does not cause any block devices to be encrypted
automatically.

Note

You can use kickstart to set a separate passphrase for each new encrypted block device.

4 .9.1.6. Additional Resources

For additional information on LUKS or encrypting hard drives under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 visit one of
the following links:

LUKS home page

LUKS/cryptsetup FAQ

LUKS - Linux Unified Key Setup Wikipedia article

HOWT O: Creating an encrypted Physical Volume (PV) using a second hard drive and pvmove

4.9.2. Creating GPG Keys

GPG is used to identify yourself and authenticate your communications, including those with people you do

106
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

not know. GPG allows anyone reading a GPG-signed email to verify its authenticity. In other words, GPG
allows someone to be reasonably certain that communications signed by you actually are from you. GPG is
useful because it helps prevent third parties from altering code or intercepting conversations and altering
the message.

4 .9.2.1. Creating GPG Keys in GNOME

T o create a GPG Key in GNOME, follow these steps:

1. Install the Seahorse utility, which makes GPG key management easier:

~]# yum install seahorse

2. T o create a key, from the Applications → Accessories menu select Passwords and Encryption
Keys, which starts the application Seahorse.

3. From the File menu select New and then PGP Key. T hen click Continue.

4. T ype your full name, email address, and an optional comment describing who you are (for example:
John C. Smith, [email protected], Software Engineer). Click Create. A dialog is displayed asking
for a passphrase for the key. Choose a strong passphrase but also easy to remember. Click OK and
the key is created.

Warning

If you forget your passphrase, you will not be able to decrypt the data.

T o find your GPG key ID, look in the Key ID column next to the newly created key. In most cases, if you
are asked for the key ID, prepend 0x to the key ID, as in 0x6789ABCD. You should make a backup of your
private key and store it somewhere secure.

4 .9.2.2. Creating GPG Keys in KDE

T o create a GPG Key in KDE, follow these steps:

1. Start the KGpg program from the main menu by selecting Applications → Utilities → Encryption
T ool. If you have never used KGpg before, the program walks you through the process of creating
your own GPG keypair.

2. A dialog box appears prompting you to create a new key pair. Enter your name, email address, and
an optional comment. You can also choose an expiration time for your key, as well as the key
strength (number of bits) and algorithms.

3. Enter your passphrase in the next dialog box. At this point, your key appears in the main KGpg
window.

Warning

If you forget your passphrase, you will not be able to decrypt the data.

T o find your GPG key ID, look in the Key ID column next to the newly created key. In most cases, if you
are asked for the key ID, prepend 0x to the key ID, as in 0x6789ABCD. You should make a backup of your
private key and store it somewhere secure.

107
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

4 .9.2.3. Creating GPG Keys Using the Command Line

1. Use the following shell command:

~]$ gpg2 --gen-key

T his command generates a key pair that consists of a public and a private key. Other people use
your public key to authenticate and/or decrypt your communications. Distribute your public key as
widely as possible, especially to people who you know will want to receive authentic communications
from you, such as a mailing list.

2. A series of prompts directs you through the process. Press the Enter key to assign a default value
if desired. T he first prompt asks you to select what kind of key you prefer:

Please select what kind of key you want:

(1) RSA and RSA (default)
(2) DSA and Elgamal
(3) DSA (sign only)
(4) RSA (sign only)
Your selection?

In almost all cases, the default is the correct choice. An RSA/RSA key allows you not only to sign
communications, but also to encrypt files.

3. Choose the key size:

RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.

What keysize do you want? (2048)

Again, the default, 2048, is sufficient for almost all users, and represents an extremely strong level
of security.

4. Choose when the key will expire. It is a good idea to choose an expiration date instead of using the
default, which is none. If, for example, the email address on the key becomes invalid, an expiration
date will remind others to stop using that public key.

Please specify how long the key should be valid.

0 = key does not expire
d = key expires in n days
w = key expires in n weeks
m = key expires in n months
y = key expires in n years
key is valid for? (0)

Entering a value of 1y, for example, makes the key valid for one year. (You may change this
expiration date after the key is generated, if you change your mind.)

5. Before the gpg2 application asks for signature information, the following prompt appears:

Is this correct (y/N)?

Enter y to finish the process.

6. Enter your name and email address for your GPG key. Remember this process is about
authenticating you as a real individual. For this reason, include your real name. If you choose a
bogus email address, it will be more difficult for others to find your public key. T his makes
authenticating your communications difficult. If you are using this GPG key for self-introduction on a

108
 ⁠C hapter 4 . Hardening Your System with T ools and Services

mailing list, for example, enter the email address you use on that list.

Use the comment field to include aliases or other information. (Some people use different keys for
different purposes and identify each key with a comment, such as "Office" or "Open Source
Projects.")

7. At the confirmation prompt, enter the letter O to continue if all entries are correct, or use the other
options to fix any problems. Finally, enter a passphrase for your secret key. T he gpg2 program
asks you to enter your passphrase twice to ensure you made no typing errors.

8. Finally, gpg2 generates random data to make your key as unique as possible. Move your mouse,
type random keys, or perform other tasks on the system during this step to speed up the process.
Once this step is finished, your keys are complete and ready to use:

pub 1024D/1B2AFA1C 2005-03-31 John Q. Doe <[email protected]>

Key fingerprint = 117C FE83 22EA B843 3E86 6486 4320 545E 1B2A FA1C
sub 1024g/CEA4B22E 2005-03-31 [expires: 2006-03-31]

9. T he key fingerprint is a shorthand "signature" for your key. It allows you to confirm to others that
they have received your actual public key without any tampering. You do not need to write this
fingerprint down. T o display the fingerprint at any time, use this command, substituting your email
address:

~]$ gpg2 --fingerprint [email protected]

Your "GPG key ID" consists of 8 hex digits identifying the public key. In the example above, the GPG
key ID is 1B2AFA1C. In most cases, if you are asked for the key ID, prepend 0x to the key ID, as in
0x6789ABCD.

Warning

If you forget your passphrase, the key cannot be used and any data encrypted using that key will
be lost.

4 .9.2.4 . About Public Key Encryption

1. Wikipedia - Public Key Cryptography

2. HowStuffWorks - Encryption

4.9.3. Using openCryptoki for Public-Key Cryptography

openCryptoki is a Linux implementation of PKCS#11, which is a Public-Key Cryptography Standard that
defines an application programming interface (API) to cryptographic devices called tokens. T okens may be
implemented in hardware or software. T his chapter provides an overview of the way the openCryptoki
system is installed, configured, and used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

4 .9.3.1. Installing openCryptoki and Starting the Service

T o install the basic openCryptoki packages on your system, including a software implementation of a
token for testing purposes, run the following command as root:

~]# yum install opencryptoki

109
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Depending on the type of hardware tokens you intend to use, you may need to install additional packages
that provide support for your specific use case. For example, to obtain support for Trusted Platform
Module (T PM) devices, you need to install the opencryptoki-tpmtok package.

See the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide for general information on how to install
packages using the Yum package manager.

T o enable the openCryptoki service, you need to run the pkcsslotd daemon. Start the daemon for the
current session by executing the following command as root:

~]# systemctl start pkcsslotd

T o ensure that the service is automatically started at boot time, run the following command:

~]# systemctl enable pkcsslotd

See the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide the for more information on how to use
systemd targets to manage services.

4 .9.3.2. Configuring and Using openCryptoki

When started, the pkcsslotd daemon reads the /etc/opencryptoki/opencryptoki.conf

configuration file, which it uses to collect information about the tokens configured to work with the system
and about their slots.

T he file defines the individual slots using key-value pairs. Each slot definition can contain a description, a
specification of the token library to be used, and an ID of the slot's manufacturer. Optionally, the version of
the slot's hardware and firmware may be defined. See the opencryptoki.conf(5) manual page for a
description of the file's format and for a more detailed description of the individual keys and the values that
can be assigned to them.

T o modify the behavior of the pkcsslotd daemon at run time, use the pkcsconf utility. T his tool allows
you to show and configure the state of the daemon, as well as to list and modify the currently configured
slots and tokens. For example, to display information about tokens, issue the following command (note that
all non-root users that need to communicate with the pkcsslotd daemon must be a part of the pkcs11
system group):

~]$ pkcsconf -t

See the pkcsconf(1) manual page for a list of arguments available with the pkcsconf tool.

Warning

Keep in mind that only fully trusted users should be assigned membership in the pkcs11 group, as
all members of this group have the right to block other users of the openCryptoki service from
accessing configured PKCS#11 tokens. All members of this group can also execute arbitrary code
with the privileges of any other users of openCryptoki.

110
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

Chapter 5. System Auditing

T he Linux Audit system provides a way to track security-relevant information on your system. Based on
pre-configured rules, Audit generates log entries to record as much information about the events that are
happening on your system as possible. T his information is crucial for mission-critical environments to
determine the violator of the security policy and the actions they performed. Audit does not provide
additional security to your system; rather, it can be used to discover violations of security policies used on
your system. T hese violations can further be prevented by additional security measures such as SELinux.

T he following list summarizes some of the information that Audit is capable of recording in its log files:

Date and time, type, and outcome of an event.

Sensitivity labels of subjects and objects.

Association of an event with the identity of the user who triggered the event.

All modifications to Audit configuration and attempts to access Audit log files.

All uses of authentication mechanisms, such as SSH, Kerberos, and others.

Changes to any trusted database, such as /etc/passwd.

Attempts to import or export information into or from the system.

Include or exclude events based on user identity, subject and object labels, and other attributes.

T he use of the Audit system is also a requirement for a number of security-related certifications. Audit is
designed to meet or exceed the requirements of the following certifications or compliance guides:

Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP)

Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP)

Rule Set Base Access Control (RSBAC)

National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM)

Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

Payment Card Industry — Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)

Security T echnical Implementation Guides (ST IG)

Audit has also been:

Evaluated by National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) and Best Security Industries (BSI).

Certified to LSPP/CAPP/RSBAC/EAL4+ on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Certified to Operating System Protection Profile / Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ (OSPP/EAL4+) on

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Use Cases
Watching file access

Audit can track whether a file or a directory has been accessed, modified, executed, or the file's
attributes have been changed. T his is useful, for example, to detect access to important files and
have an Audit trail available in case one of these files is corrupted.
111
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide
have an Audit trail available in case one of these files is corrupted.

Monitoring system calls

Audit can be configured to generate a log entry every time a particular system call is used. T his
can be used, for example, to track changes to the system time by monitoring the settim eofday,
clock_adjtim e, and other time-related system calls.

Recording commands run by a user

Because Audit can track whether a file has been executed, a number of rules can be defined to
record every execution of a particular command. For example, a rule can be defined for every
executable in the /bin directory. T he resulting log entries can then be searched by user ID to
generate an audit trail of executed commands per user.

Recording security events

T he pam _faillock authentication module is capable of recording failed login attempts. Audit
can be set up to record failed login attempts as well, and provides additional information about the
user who attempted to log in.

Searching for events

Audit provides the ausearch utility, which can be used to filter the log entries and provide a
complete audit trail based on a number of conditions.

Running summary reports

T he aureport utility can be used to generate, among other things, daily reports of recorded
events. A system administrator can then analyze these reports and investigate suspicious activity
furthermore.

Monitoring network access

T he iptables and ebtables utilities can be configured to trigger Audit events, allowing system
administrators to monitor network access.

Note

System performance may be affected depending on the amount of information that is collected by
Audit.

5.1. Audit System Architecture

T he Audit system consists of two main parts: the user-space applications and utilities, and the kernel-side
system call processing. T he kernel component receives system calls from user-space applications and
filters them through one of the three filters: user, task, or exit. Once a system call passes through one of
these filters, it is sent through the exclude filter, which, based on the Audit rule configuration, sends it to
the Audit daemon for further processing. Figure 5.1, “Audit system architecture” illustrates this process.

112
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

Figure 5.1. Audit system architecture

T he user-space Audit daemon collects the information from the kernel and creates log file entries in a log
file. Other Audit user-space utilities interact with the Audit daemon, the kernel Audit component, or the Audit
log files:

audisp — the Audit dispatcher daemon interacts with the Audit daemon and sends events to other
applications for further processing. T he purpose of this daemon is to provide a plug-in mechanism so
that real-time analytical programs can interact with Audit events.

auditctl — the Audit control utility interacts with the kernel Audit component to control a number of
settings and parameters of the event generation process.

T he remaining Audit utilities take the contents of the Audit log files as input and generate output based
on user's requirements. For example, the aureport utility generates a report of all recorded events.

5.2. Installing the audit Packages

In order to use the Audit system, you must have the audit packages installed on your system. T he audit
packages (audit and audit-libs) are installed by default on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. If you do not have
these packages installed, execute the following command as the root user to install them:

~]# yum install audit

5.3. Configuring the audit Service

T he Audit daemon can be configured in the /etc/audit/auditd.conf configuration file. T his file
consists of configuration parameters that modify the behavior of the Audit daemon. Any empty lines or any
text following a hash sign (#) is ignored. A complete listing of all configuration parameters and their
explanation can be found in the audit.conf(5) man page.

5.3.1. Configuring auditd for a CAPP Environment

113
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T he default auditd configuration should be suitable for most environments. However, if your environment
has to meet the criteria set by the Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP), which is a part of the
Common Criteria certification, the Audit daemon must be configured with the following settings:

T he directory that holds the Audit log files (usually /var/log/audit/) should reside on a separate
partition. T his prevents other processes from consuming space in this directory, and provides accurate
detection of the remaining space for the Audit daemon.

T he max_log_file parameter, which specifies the maximum size of a single Audit log file, must be set
to make full use of the available space on the partition that holds the Audit log files.

T he max_log_file_action parameter, which decides what action is taken once the limit set in
max_log_file is reached, should be set to keep_logs to prevent Audit log files from being
overwritten.

T he space_left parameter, which specifies the amount of free space left on the disk for which an
action that is set in the space_left_action parameter is triggered, must be set to a number that
gives the administrator enough time to respond and free up disk space. T he space_left value
depends on the rate at which the Audit log files are generated.

It is recommended to set the space_left_action parameter to em ail or exec with an appropriate

notification method.

T he admin_space_left parameter, which specifies the absolute minimum amount of free space for
which an action that is set in the admin_space_left_action parameter is triggered, must be set to a
value that leaves enough space to log actions performed by the administrator.

T he admin_space_left_action parameter must be set to single to put the system into single-user
mode and allow the administrator to free up some disk space.

T he disk_full_action parameter, which specifies an action that is triggered when no free space is
available on the partition that holds the Audit log files, must be set to halt or single. T his ensures
that the system is either shut down or operating in single-user mode when Audit can no longer log
events.

T he disk_error_action, which specifies an action that is triggered in case an error is detected on

the partition that holds the Audit log files, must be set to syslog, single, or halt, depending on your
local security policies regarding the handling of hardware malfunctions.

T he flush configuration parameter must be set to sync or data. T hese parameters assure that all
Audit event data is fully synchronized with the log files on the disk.

T he remaining configuration options should be set according to your local security policy.

5.4. Starting the audit Service

Once auditd is properly configured, start the service to collect Audit information and store it in the log
files. Execute the following command as the root user to start auditd:

~]# service auditd start

Optionally, you can configure auditd to start at boot time using the following command as the root user:

~]# chkconfig auditd on

114
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

A number of other actions can be performed on auditd using the service auditd action command,
where action can be one of the following:

stop — stops auditd.

restart — restarts auditd.

reload or force-reload — reloads the configuration of auditd from the

/etc/audit/auditd.conf file.

rotate — rotates the log files in the /var/log/audit/ directory.

resum e — resumes logging of Audit events after it has been previously suspended, for example, when
there is not enough free space on the disk partition that holds the Audit log files.

condrestart or try-restart — restarts auditd only if it is already running.

status — displays the running status of auditd.

5.5. Defining Audit Rules

T he Audit system operates on a set of rules that define what is to be captured in the log files. T here are
three types of Audit rules that can be specified:

Control rules — allow the Audit system's behavior and some of its configuration to be modified.

File system rules — also known as file watches, allow the auditing of access to a particular file or a
directory.

System call rules — allow logging of system calls that any specified program makes.

Audit rules can be specified on the command line with the auditctl utility (note that these rules are not
persistent across reboots), or written in the /etc/audit/audit.rules file. T he following two sections
summarize both approaches to defining Audit rules.

5.5.1. Defining Audit Rules with the auditctl Utility

Note

All commands which interact with the Audit service and the Audit log files require root privileges.
Ensure you execute these commands as the root user.

T he auditctl command allows you to control the basic functionality of the Audit system and to define
rules that decide which Audit events are logged.

Defining Control Rules

T he following are some of the control rules that allow you to modify the behavior of the Audit system:

-b

sets the maximum amount of existing Audit buffers in the kernel, for example:

~]# auditctl -b 8192

115
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

-f

sets the action that is performed when a critical error is detected, for example:

~]# auditctl -f 2

T he above configuration triggers a kernel panic in case of a critical error.

-e

enables and disables the Audit system or locks its configuration, for example:

~]# auditctl -e 2

T he above command locks the Audit configuration.

-r

sets the rate of generated messages per second, for example:

~]# auditctl -r 0

T he above configuration sets no rate limit on generated messages.

-s

reports the status of the Audit system, for example:

~]# auditctl -s
AUDIT_STATUS: enabled=1 flag=2 pid=0 rate_limit=0 backlog_limit=8192
lost=259 backlog=0

-l

lists all currently loaded Audit rules, for example:

~]# auditctl -l
LIST_RULES: exit,always watch=/etc/localtime perm=wa key=time-change
LIST_RULES: exit,always watch=/etc/group perm=wa key=identity
LIST_RULES: exit,always watch=/etc/passwd perm=wa key=identity
LIST_RULES: exit,always watch=/etc/gshadow perm=wa key=identity
⋮

-D

deletes all currently loaded Audit rules, for example:

~]# auditctl -D
No rules

Defining File System Rules

T o define a file system rule, use the following syntax:

auditctl -w path_to_file -p permissions -k key_name

where:

116
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

path_to_file is the file or directory that is audited.

permissions are the permissions that are logged:

r — read access to a file or a directory.

w — write access to a file or a directory.

x — execute access to a file or a directory.

a — change in the file's or directory's attribute.

key_name is an optional string that helps you identify which rule or a set of rules generated a particular
log entry.

Example 5.1. File System Rules

T o define a rule that logs all write access to, and every attribute change of, the /etc/passwd file,
execute the following command:

~]# auditctl -w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd_changes

Note that the string following the -k option is arbitrary.

T o define a rule that logs all write access to, and every attribute change of, all the files in the
/etc/selinux/ directory, execute the following command:

~]# auditctl -w /etc/selinux/ -p wa -k selinux_changes

T o define a rule that logs the execution of the /sbin/insm od command, which inserts a module into
the Linux kernel, execute the following command:

~]# auditctl -w /sbin/insmod -p x -k module_insertion

Defining System Call Rules

T o define a system call rule, use the following syntax:

auditctl -a action,filter -S system_call -F field=value -k key_name

where:

action and filter specify when a certain event is logged. action can be either always or never. filter
specifies which kernel rule-matching filter is applied to the event. T he rule-matching filter can be one of
the following: task, exit, user, and exclude. For more information about these filters, refer to the
beginning of Section 5.1, “Audit System Architecture”.

system_call specifies the system call by its name. A list of all system calls can be found in the
/usr/include/asm /unistd_64 .h file. Several system calls can be grouped into one rule, each
specified after the -S option.

field=value specifies additional options that furthermore modify the rule to match events based on a
specified architecture, group ID, process ID, and others. For a full listing of all available field types and
their values, refer to the auditctl(8) man page.

117
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

key_name is an optional string that helps you identify which rule or a set of rules generated a particular
log entry.

Example 5.2. System Call Rules

T o define a rule that creates a log entry every time the adjtim ex or settim eofday system calls are
used by a program, and the system uses the 64-bit architecture, execute the following command:

~]# auditctl -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k

time_change

T o define a rule that creates a log entry every time a file is deleted or renamed by a system user whose
ID is 500 or larger (the -F auid!=4 294 967295 option is used to exclude users whose login UID is
not set), execute the following command:

~]# auditctl -a always,exit -S unlink -S unlinkat -S rename -S renameat -F

auid>=500 -F auid!=4294967295 -k delete

It is also possible to define a file system rule using the system call rule syntax. T he following command
creates a rule for system calls that is analogous to the -w /etc/shadow -p wa file system rule:

~]# auditctl -a always,exit -F path=/etc/shadow -F perm=wa

5.5.2. Defining Persistent Audit Rules and Controls in the

/etc/audit/audit.rules File

T o define Audit rules that are persistent across reboots, you must include them in the
/etc/audit/audit.rules file. T his file uses the same auditctl command line syntax to specify the
rules. Any empty lines or any text following a hash sign (#) is ignored.

T he auditctl command can also be used to read rules from a specified file with the -R option, for
example:

~]# auditctl -R /usr/share/doc/audit-version/stig.rules

Defining Control Rules

A file can contain only the following control rules that modify the behavior of the Audit system: -b, -D, -e, -
f, and -r. For more information on these options, refer to Section 5.5.1, “Defining Control Rules”.

118
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

Example 5.3. Control rules in audit.rules

# Delete all previous rules

-D

# Set buffer size

-b 8192

# Make the configuration immutable -- reboot is required to change audit rules

-e 2

# Panic when a failure occurs

-f 2

# Generate at most 100 audit messages per second

-r 100

Defining File System and System Call Rules

File system and system call rules are defined using the auditctl syntax. T he examples in Section 5.5.1,
“Defining Audit Rules with the auditctl Utility” can be represented with the following rules file:

Example 5.4 . File system and system call rules in audit.rules

-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd_changes
-w /etc/selinux/ -p wa -k selinux_changes
-w /sbin/insmod -p x -k module_insertion

-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k time_change

-a always,exit -S unlink -S unlinkat -S rename -S renameat -F auid>=500 -F
auid!=4294967295 -k delete

Preconfigured Rules Files

In the /usr/share/doc/audit-version/ directory, the audit package provides a set of pre-configured

rules files according to various certification standards:

nispom .rules — Audit rule configuration that meets the requirements specified in Chapter 8 of the
National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual.

capp.rules — Audit rule configuration that meets the requirements set by

Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP), which is a part of the Common Criteria certification.

lspp.rules — Audit rule configuration that meets the requirements set by

Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP), which is a part of the Common Criteria certification.

stig.rules — Audit rule configuration that meets the requirements set by

Security T echnical Implementation Guides (ST IG).

T o use these configuration files, create a backup of your original /etc/audit/audit.rules file and
copy the configuration file of your choice over the /etc/audit/audit.rules file:

~]# cp /etc/audit/audit.rules /etc/audit/audit.rules_backup

~]# cp /usr/share/doc/audit-version/stig.rules /etc/audit/audit.rules

119
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

5.6. Understanding Audit Log Files

By default, the Audit system stores log entries in the /var/log/audit/audit.log file; if log rotation is
enabled, rotated audit.log files are stored in the same directory.

T he following Audit rule logs every attempt to read or modify the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file:

-w /etc/ssh/sshd_config -p warx -k sshd_config

If the auditd daemon is running, running the following command creates a new event in the Audit log file:

~]# cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config

T his event in the audit.log file looks as follows:

type=SYSCALL msg=audit(1364481363.243:24287): arch=c000003e syscall=2 success=no

exit=-13 a0=7fffd19c5592 a1=0 a2=7fffd19c4b50 a3=a items=1 ppid=2686 pid=3538
auid=500 uid=500 gid=500 euid=500 suid=500 fsuid=500 egid=500 sgid=500 fsgid=500
tty=pts0 ses=1 comm="cat" exe="/bin/cat"
subj=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 key="sshd_config"
type=CWD msg=audit(1364481363.243:24287): cwd="/home/shadowman"
type=PATH msg=audit(1364481363.243:24287): item=0 name="/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
inode=409248 dev=fd:00 mode=0100600 ouid=0 ogid=0 rdev=00:00
obj=system_u:object_r:etc_t:s0

T he above event consists of three records (each starting with the type= keyword), which share the same
time stamp and serial number. Each record consists of several name=value pairs separated by a white
space or a comma. A detailed analysis of the above event follows:

First Record
type=SYSCALL

T he type field contains the type of the record. In this example, the SYSCALL value specifies that
this record was triggered by a system call to the kernel.

For a list of all possible type values and their explanations, refer to Section B.2, “Audit Record
T ypes”.

m sg=audit(1364 4 81363.24 3:24 287):

T he m sg field records:

a time stamp and a unique ID of the record in the form audit(time_stamp:ID). Multiple
records can share the same time stamp and ID if they were generated as part of the same
Audit event.

various event-specific name=value pairs provided by the kernel or user space applications.

arch=c000003e

T he arch field contains information about the CPU architecture of the system. T he value,
c000003e, is encoded in hexadecimal notation. When searching Audit records with the
ausearch command, use the -i or --interpret option to automatically convert hexadecimal
values into their human-readable equivalents. T he c000003e value is interpreted as x86_64 .

syscall=2

120
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

T he syscall field records the type of the system call that was sent to the kernel. T he value, 2,
can be matched with its human-readable equivalent in the /usr/include/asm /unistd_64 .h
file. In this case, 2 is the open system call. Note that the ausyscall utility allows you to convert
system call numbers to their human-readable equivalents. Use the ausyscall --dum p
command to display a listing of all system calls along with their numbers. For more information,
refer to the ausyscall(8) man page.

success=no

T he success field records whether the system call recorded in that particular event succeeded
or failed. In this case, the call did not succeed.

exit=-13

T he exit field contains a value that specifies the exit code returned by the system call. T his
value varies for different system call. You can interpret the value to its human-readable equivalent
with the following command: ausearch --interpret --exit -13 (assuming your Audit log
contains an event that failed with exit code -13).

a0=7fffd19c5592, a1=0, a2=7fffd19c5592, a3=a

T he a0 to a3 fields record the first four arguments, encoded in hexadecimal notation, of the
system call in this event. T hese arguments depend on the system call that is used; they can be
interpreted by the ausearch utility.

item s=1

T he item s field contains the number of path records in the event.

ppid=2686

T he ppid field records the Parent Process ID (PPID). In this case, 2686 was the PPID of the
bash process.

pid=3538

T he pid field records the Process ID (PID). In this case, 3538 was the PID of the cat process.

auid=500

T he auid field records the Audit user ID, that is the loginuid. T his ID is assigned to a user upon
login and is inherited by every process even when the user's identity changes (for example, by
switching user accounts with the su - john command).

uid=500

T he uid field records the user ID of the user who started the analyzed process. T he user ID can
be interpreted into user names with the following command: ausearch -i --uid UID. In this
case, 500 is the user ID of user shadowm an.

gid=500

T he gid field records the group ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

euid=500

T he euid field records the effective user ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

121
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

suid=500

T he suid field records the set user ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

fsuid=500

T he fsuid field records the file system user ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

egid=500

T he egid field records the effective group ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

sgid=500

T he sgid field records the set group ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

fsgid=500

T he fsgid field records the file system group ID of the user who started the analyzed process.

tty=pts0

T he tty field records the terminal from which the analyzed process was invoked.

ses=1

T he ses field records the session ID of the session from which the analyzed process was
invoked.

com m ="cat"

T he com m field records the command-line name of the command that was used to invoke the
analyzed process. In this case, the cat command was used to trigger this Audit event.

exe="/bin/cat"

T he exe field records the path to the executable that was used to invoke the analyzed process.

subj=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023

T he subj field records the SELinux context with which the analyzed process was labeled at the
time of execution.

key="sshd_config"

T he key field records the administrator-defined string associated with the rule that generated this
event in the Audit log.

Second Record
type=CWD

In the second record, the type field value is CWD — current working directory. T his type is used
to record the working directory from which the process that invoked the system call specified in
the first record was executed.

T he purpose of this record is to record the current process's location in case a relative path
winds up being captured in the associated PAT H record. T his way the absolute path can be
reconstructed.

122
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

m sg=audit(1364 4 81363.24 3:24 287)

T he m sg field holds the same time stamp and ID value as the value in the first record.

cwd="/hom e/shadowm an"

T he cwd field contains the path to the directory in which the system call was invoked.

T hird Record
type=PAT H

In the third record, the type field value is PAT H. An Audit event contains a PAT H-type record for
every path that is passed to the system call as an argument. In this Audit event, only one path
(/etc/ssh/sshd_config) was used as an argument.

m sg=audit(1364 4 81363.24 3:24 287):

T he m sg field holds the same time stamp and ID value as the value in the first and second record.

item =0

T he item field indicates which item, of the total number of items referenced in the SYSCALL type
record, the current record is. T his number is zero-based; a value of 0 means it is the first item.

nam e="/etc/ssh/sshd_config"

T he nam e field records the full path of the file or directory that was passed to the system call as
an argument. In this case, it was the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file.

inode=4 0924 8

T he inode field contains the inode number associated with the file or directory recorded in this
event. T he following command displays the file or directory that is associated with the 4 0924 8
inode number:

~]# find / -inum 409248 -print

/etc/ssh/sshd_config

dev=fd:00

T he dev field specifies the minor and major ID of the device that contains the file or directory
recorded in this event. In this case, the value represents the /dev/fd/0 device.

m ode=0100600

T he m ode field records the file or directory permissions, encoded in numerical notation. In this
case, 0100600 can be interpreted as -rw-------, meaning that only the root user has read and
write permissions to the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file.

ouid=0

T he ouid field records the object owner's user ID.

ogid=0

T he ogid field records the object owner's group ID.

123
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

rdev=00:00

T he rdev field contains a recorded device identifier for special files only. In this case, it is not
used as the recorded file is a regular file.

obj=system _u:object_r:etc_t:s0

T he obj field records the SELinux context with which the recorded file or directory was labeled at
the time of execution.

T he Audit event analyzed above contains only a subset of all possible fields that an event can contain. For
a list of all event fields and their explanation, refer to Section B.1, “Audit Event Fields”. For a list of all event
types and their explanation, refer to Section B.2, “Audit Record T ypes”.

Example 5.5. Additional audit.log events

T he following Audit event records a successful start of the auditd daemon. T he ver field shows the
version of the Audit daemon that was started.

type=DAEMON_START msg=audit(1363713609.192:5426): auditd start, ver=2.2 format=raw

kernel=2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64 auid=500 pid=4979
subj=unconfined_u:system_r:auditd_t:s0 res=success

T he following Audit event records a failed attempt of user with UID of 500 to log in as the root user.

type=USER_AUTH msg=audit(1364475353.159:24270): user pid=3280 uid=500 auid=500

ses=1 subj=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
msg='op=PAM:authentication acct="root" exe="/bin/su" hostname=? addr=?
terminal=pts/0 res=failed'

5.7. Searching the Audit Log Files

T he ausearch utility allows you to search Audit log files for specific events. By default, ausearch
searches the /var/log/audit/audit.log file. You can specify a different file using the ausearch
options -if file_name command. Supplying multiple options in one ausearch command is equivalent
to using the AND operator.

124
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

Example 5.6. Using ausearch to search Audit log files

T o search the /var/log/audit/audit.log file for failed login attempts, use the following command:

~]# ausearch --message USER_LOGIN --success no --interpret

T o search for all account, group, and role changes, use the following command:

~]# ausearch -m ADD_USER -m DEL_USER -m ADD_GROUP -m USER_CHAUTHTOK -m

DEL_GROUP -m CHGRP_ID -m ROLE_ASSIGN -m ROLE_REMOVE -i

T o search for all logged actions performed by a certain user, using the user's login ID (auid), use the
following command:

~]# ausearch -au 500 -i

T o search for all failed system calls from yesterday up until now, use the following command:

~]# ausearch --start yesterday --end now -m SYSCALL -sv no -i

For a full listing of all ausearch options, refer to the ausearch(8) man page.

5.8. Creating Audit Reports

T he aureport utility allows you to generate summary and columnar reports on the events recorded in
Audit log files. By default, all audit.log files in the /var/log/audit/ directory are queried to create
the report. You can specify a different file to run the report against using the aureport options -if
file_name command.

125
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Example 5.7. Using aureport to generate Audit reports

T o generate a report for logged events in the past three days excluding the current example day, use
the following command:

~]# aureport --start 04/08/2013 00:00:00 --end 04/11/2013 00:00:00

T o generate a report of all executable file events, use the following command:

~]# aureport -x

T o generate a summary of the executable file event report above, use the following command:

~]# aureport -x --summary

T o generate a summary report of failed events for all users, use the following command:

~]# aureport -u --failed --summary -i

T o generate a summary report of all failed login attempts per each system user, use the following
command:

~]# aureport --login --summary -i

T o generate a report from an ausearch query that searches all file access events for user 500, use
the following command:

~]# ausearch --start today --loginuid 500 --raw | aureport -f --summary

T o generate a report of all Audit files that are queried and the time range of events they include, use the
following command:

~]# aureport -t

For a full listing of all aureport options, refer to the aureport(8) man page.

5.9. Additional Resources

For more information about the Audit system, refer to the following sources.

Online Sources

T he Linux Audit system project page: http://people.redhat.com/sgrubb/audit/.

Article Investigating kernel Return Codes with the Linux Audit System in the Hack In the Box magazine:
http://magazine.hackinthebox.org/issues/HIT B-Ezine-Issue-005.pdf.

Installed Documentation

Documentation provided by the audit package can be found in the /usr/share/doc/audit-version/

directory.

126
 ⁠C hapter 5. System Auditing

Manual Pages

audispd.conf(5)

auditd.conf(5)

ausearch-expression(5)

audit.rules(7)

audispd(8)

auditctl(8)

auditd(8)

aulast(8)

aulastlog(8)

aureport(8)

ausearch(8)

ausyscall(8)

autrace(8)

auvirt(8)

127
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Chapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

6.1. Security Compliance in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

A compliance audit is a process of figuring out whether a given object follows all the rules written out in a
compliance policy. T he compliance policy is defined by security professionals who specify desired
settings, often in the form of a checklist, that are to be used in the computing environment.

T he compliance policy can vary substantially across organizations and even across different systems
within the same organization. Differences among these policies are based on the purpose of these
systems and its importance for the organization. T he custom software settings and deployment
characteristics also raise a need for custom policy checklists.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides tools that allow for fully automated compliance audit. T hese tools are
based on the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) standard and are designed for automated
tailoring of compliance policies.

Security Compliance T ools Supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

SCAP Workbench — T he scap-workbench graphical utility is designed to perform configuration

and vulnerability scans on a single local or remote system. It can be also used to generate security
reports based on these scans and evaluations.

OpenSCAP — T he oscap command-line utility is designed to perform configuration and vulnerability

scans on a local system, to validate security compliance content, and to generate reports and guides
based on these scans and evaluations.

If you require performing automated compliance audits on multiple systems remotely, you can utilize
OpenSCAP solution for Red Hat Satellite. For more information see Section 6.5, “Using OpenSCAP with
Red Hat Satellite” and Section 6.7, “Additional Resources”.

Note

Note that Red Hat does not provide any default compliance policy along with the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 7 distribution. T he reasons for that are explained in Section 6.2, “Defining
Compliance Policy”.

6.2. Defining Compliance Policy

T he security or compliance policy is rarely written from scratch. ISO 27000 standard series, derivative
works, and other sources provide security policy templates and practice recommendations that should be
helpful to start with. However, organizations building theirs information security program need to amend
the policy templates to align with their needs. T he policy template should be chosen on the basis of its
relevancy to the company environment and then the template has to be adjusted because either the
template contains build-in assumptions which cannot be applied to the organization, or the template
explicitly requires that certain decisions have to be made.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux auditing capabilities are based on the Security Content Automation Protocol
(SCAP) standard. SCAP is a synthesis of interoperable specifications that standardize the format and
nomenclature by which software flaw and security configuration information is communicated, both to
machines and humans. SCAP is a multi-purpose framework of specifications that supports automated

128
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

configuration, vulnerability and patch checking, technical control compliance activities, and security
measurement.

In other words, SCAP is a vendor-neutral way of expressing security policy, and as such it is widely used
in modern enterprises. SCAP specifications create an ecosystem where the format of security content is
well known and standardized while the implementation of the scanner or policy editor is not mandated.
Such a status enables organizations to build their security policy (SCAP content) once, no matter how
many security vendors do they employ.

T he latest version of SCAP includes several underlying standards. T hese components are organized into
groups according to their function within SCAP as follows:

SCAP Components

Languages — T his group consists of SCAP languages that define standard vocabularies and
conventions for expressing compliance policy.

T he eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) — A language designed to

express, organize, and manage security guidance.

Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL) — A language developed to perform logical
assertion about the state of the scanned system.

Open Checklist Interactive Language (OCIL) — A language designed to provide a standard way to
query users and interpret user responses to the given questions.

Asset Identification (AI) — A language developed to provide a data model, methods, and guidance
for identifying security assets.

Asset Reporting Format (ARF) — A language designed to express the transport format of
information about collected security assets and the relationship between assets and security
reports.

Enumerations — T his group includes SCAP standards that define naming format and an official list or
dictionary of items from certain security-related areas of interest.

Common Configuration Enumeration (CCE) — An enumeration of security-relevant configuration

elements for applications and operating systems.

Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) — A structured naming scheme used to identify information
technology (IT ) systems, platforms, and software packages.

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) — A reference method to a collection of publicly

known software vulnerabilities and exposures.

Metrics — T his group comprises of frameworks to identify and evaluate security risks.

Common Configuration Scoring System (CCSS) — A metric system to evaluate security-relevant

configuration elements and assign them scores in order to help users to prioritize appropriate
response steps.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) — A metric system to evaluate software

vulnerabilities and assign them scores in order to help users prioritize their security risks.

Integrity — An SCAP specification to maintain integrity of SCAP content and scan results.

129
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Trust Model for Security Automation Data (TMSAD) — A set of recommendations explaining usage
of existing specification to represent signatures, hashes, key information, and identity information in
context of an XML file within a security automation domain.

Each of the SCAP components has its own XML-based document format and its XML name space. A
compliance policy expressed in SCAP can either take a form of a single OVAL definition XML file, data
stream file, single zip archive, or a set of separate XML files containing an XCCDF file that represents a
policy checklist.

6.2.1. The XCCDF File Format

T he XCCDF language is designed to support information interchange, document generation,
organizational and situational tailoring, automated compliance testing, and compliance scoring. T he
language is mostly descriptive and does not contain any commands to perform security scans. However,
an XCCDF document can refer to other SCAP components, and as such it can be used to craft a
compliance policy that is portable among all the target platforms with the exception of the related
assessment documents (OVAL, OCIL).

T he common way to represent a compliance policy is a set of XML files where one of the files is an XCCDF
checklist. T his XCCDF file usually points to the assessment resources, multiple OVAL, OCIL and the Script
Check Engine (SCE) files. Furthermore, the file set can contain a CPE dictionary file and an OVAL file
defining objects for this dictionary.

Being an XML-based language, the XCCDF defines and uses a vast selection of XML elements and
attributes. T he following list briefly introduces the main XCCDF elements; for more details about XCCDF,
consult the NIST Interagency Report 7275 Revision 4.

Main XML Elements of the XCCDF Document

<xccdf:Benchm ark> — T his is a root element that encloses the whole XCCDF document. It may
also contain checklist metadata, such as a title, description, list of authors, date of the latest
modification, and status of the checklist acceptance.

<xccdf:Rule> — T his is a key element that represents a checklist requirement and holds its
description. It may contain child elements that define actions verifying or enforcing compliance with the
given rule or modify the rule itself.

<xccdf:Value> — T his key element is used for expressing properties of other XCCDF elements
within the benchmark.

<xccdf:Group> — T his element is used to organize an XCCDF document to structures with the
same context or requirement domains by gathering the <xccdf:Rule>, <xccdf:Value>, and
<xccdf:Group> elements.

<xccdf:Profile> — T his element serves for a named tailoring of the XCCDF benchmark. It allows
the benchmark to hold several different tailorings. <xccdf:Profile> utilizes several selector
elements, such as <xccdf:select> or <xccdf:refine-rule>, to determine which elements are
going to be modified and processed while it is in effect.

<xccdf:T ailoring> — T his element allows defining the benchmark profiles outside the
benchmark, which is sometimes desirable for manual tailoring of the compliance policy.

130
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

<xccdf:T estResult> — T his element serves for keeping the scan results for the given benchmark
on the target system. Each <xccdf:T estResult> should refer to the profile that was used to define
the compliance policy for the particular scan and it should also contain important information about the
target system that is relevant for the scan.

<xccdf:rule-result> — T his is a child element of <xccdf:T estResult> that is used to hold the
result of applying a specific rule from the benchmark to the target system.

<xccdf:fix> — T his is a child element of <xccdf:Rule> that serves for remediation of the target
system that is not compliant with the given rule. It can contain a command or script that is run on the
target system in order to bring the system into compliance the rule.

<xccdf:check> — T his is a child element of <xccdf:Rule> that refers to an external source which
defines how to evaluate the given rule.

<xccdf:select> — T his is a selector element that is used for including or excluding the chosen
rules or groups of rules from the policy.

<xccdf:set-value> — T his is a selector element that is used for overwriting the current value of
the specified <xccdf:Value> element without modifying any of its other properties.

<xccdf:refine-value> — T his is a selector element that is used for specifying constraints of the
particular <xccdf:Value> element during policy tailoring.

<xccdf:refine-rule> — T his selector element allows overwriting properties of the selected rules.

131
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Example 6.1. An Example of an XCCDF Document

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<Benchmark xmlns="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2"
id="xccdf_com.example.www_benchmark_test">
<status>incomplete</status>
<version>0.1</version>
<Profile id="xccdf_com.example.www_profile_1">
<title>Profile title is compulsory</title>
<select idref="xccdf_com.example.www_group_1"
selected="true"/>
<select idref="xccdf_com.example.www_rule_1"
selected="true"/>
<refine-value idref="xccdf_com.example.www_value_1"
selector="telnet service"/>
</Profile>
<Group id="xccdf_com.example.www_group_1">
<Value id="xccdf_com.example.www_value_1">
<value selector="telnet_service">telnet-server</value>
<value selector="dhcp_servide">dhcpd</value>
<value selector="ftp_service">tftpd</value>
</Value>
<Rule id="xccdf_com.example.www_rule_1">
<title>The telnet-server Package Shall Not Be Installed </title>
<rationale>
Removing the telnet-server package decreases the risk
of the telnet service’s accidental (or intentional) activation
</rationale>
<fix platform="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6"
reboot="false"
disruption="low"
system="urn:xccdf:fix:script:sh">
yum -y remove
<sub idref="xccdf_com.example.www_value_1"/>
</fix>
<check system="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5">
<check-export value-id="xccdf_com.example.www_value_1"
export-name="oval:com.example.www:var:1"/>
<check-content-ref href="examplary.oval.xml"
name="oval:com.example.www:def:1"/>
</check>
<check system="http://open-scap.org/page/SCE">
<check-import import-name="stdout"/>
<check-content-ref href="telnet_server.sh"/>
</check>
</Rule>
</Group>
</Benchmark>

6.2.2. The OVAL File Format

T he Open Vulnerability Assessment Language (OVAL) is the essential and oldest component of SCAP.
T he main goal of the OVAL standard is to enable interoperability among security products. T hat is
achieved by standardization of the following three domains:

132
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

1. Representation of the target system configuration.

2. Analysis of the target system for the presence of a particular machine state.

3. Reporting the results of the comparison between the specified machine state and the observed
machine state.

Unlike other tools or custom scripts, the OVAL language describes a desired state of resources in a
declarative manner. T he OVAL language code is never executed directly, but by means of an OVAL
interpreter tool called scanner. T he declarative nature of OVAL ensures that the state of the assessed
system is not accidentally modified, which is important because security scanners are often run with the
highest possible privileges.

OVAL specification is open for public comments and contribution and various IT companies collaborate
with the MIT RE Corporation, federally funded not-for-profit organization. T he OVAL specification is
continuously evolving and different editions are distinguished by a version number. T he current version
5.10.1 was released in January 2012.

Like all other SCAP components, OVAL is based on XML. T he OVAL standard defines several document
formats. Each of them includes different kind of information and serves a different purpose.

T he OVAL Document Formats

T he OVAL Definitions format is the most common OVAL file format that is used directly for system
scans. T he OVAL Definitions document describes the desired state of the target system.

T he OVAL Variables format defines variables used to amend the OVAL Definitions document. T he
OVAL Variables document is typically used in conjunction with the OVAL Definitions document to tailor
the security content for the target system at runtime.

T he OVAL System Characteristics format holds information about the assessed system. T he OVAL
System Characteristics document is typically used to compare the actual state of the system against
the expected state defined by an OVAL Definitions document.

T he OVAL Results is the most comprehensive OVAL format that is used to report results of the system
evaluation. T he OVAL Results document typically contains copy of the evaluated OVAL definitions,
bound OVAL variables, OVAL system characteristics, and results of tests that are computed based on
comparison of the system characteristics and the definitions.

T he OVAL Directives format is used to tailor verbosity of an OVAL Result document by either including
or excluding certain details.

T he OVAL Common Model format contains definitions of constructs and enumerations used in several
other OVAL schemes. It is used to reuse OVAL definitions in order to avoid duplications across multiple
documents.

T he OVAL Definitions document consists of a set of configuration requirements where each requirement is
defined in the following five basic sections: definitions, tests, objects, states, and variables. T he elements
within the definitions section describe which of the tests shall be fulfilled to satisfy the given definition. T he
test elements link objects and states together. During the system evaluation, a test is considered passed
when a resource of the assessed system that is denoted by the given object element corresponds with
the given state element. T he variables section defines external variables which may be used to adjust
elements from the states section. Besides these sections, the OVAL Definitions document typically
contains also the generator and signature sections. T he generator section holds information about the
document origin and various additional information related to its content.

133
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Each element from the OVAL document basic sections is unambiguously identified by an identifier in the
following form:

oval:namespace:type:ID

where namespace is a name space defining the identifier, type is either def for definitions elements, tst for
tests elements, obj for objects element, ste for states elements, and var for variables elements, and ID is
an integer value of the identifier.

Example 6.2. An Example of an OVAL Definitions Document

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<oval_definitions
xmlns:lin-def="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#linux"
xmlns:oval="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-common-5"
xmlns="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<generator>
<oval:product_name>vim</oval:product_name>
<oval:schema_version>5.10.1</oval:schema_version>
<oval:timestamp>2012-11-22T15:00:00+01:00</oval:timestamp>
</generator>
<definitions>
<definition class="inventory"
id="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.rhel:def:7"
version="1">
<metadata>
<title>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</title>
<affected family="unix">
<platform>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</platform>
</affected>
<reference ref_id="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
source="CPE"/>
<description>
The operating system installed on the system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7
</description>
</metadata>
<criteria>
<criterion comment="Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is installed"
test_ref="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.rhel:tst:7"/>
</criteria>
</definition>
</definitions>
<tests>
<lin-def:rpminfo_test check_existence="at_least_one_exists"
id="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.rhel:tst:7"
version="1"
check="at least one"
comment="redhat-release is version 7">
<lin-def:object object_ref="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.redhat-release:obj:1"/>
<lin-def:state state_ref="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.rhel:ste:7"/>
</lin-def:rpminfo_test>
</tests>
<objects>
<lin-def:rpmverifyfile_object id="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.redhat-
release:obj:1"
version="1">
<!-- This object represents rpm package which owns /etc/redhat-release file

134
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

-->
<lin-def:behaviors nolinkto='true'
nomd5='true'
nosize='true'
nouser='true'
nogroup='true'
nomtime='true'
nomode='true'
nordev='true'
noconfigfiles='true'
noghostfiles='true' />
<lin-def:name operation="pattern match"/>
<lin-def:epoch operation="pattern match"/>
<lin-def:version operation="pattern match"/>
<lin-def:release operation="pattern match"/>
<lin-def:arch operation="pattern match"/>
<lin-def:filepath>/etc/redhat-release</lin-def:filepath>
</lin-def:rpmverifyfile_object>
</objects>
<states>
<lin-def:rpminfo_state id="oval:org.open-scap.cpe.rhel:ste:7"
version="1">
<lin-def:name operation="pattern match">^redhat-release</lin-def:name>
<lin-def:version operation="pattern match">^7[^\d]</lin-def:version>
</lin-def:rpminfo_state>
</states>
</oval_definitions>

6.2.3. The Data Stream Format

SCAP data stream is a file format used since SCAP version 1.2 and it represents a bundle of XCCDF,
OVAL, and other component files which can be used to define a compliance policy expressed by an
XCCDF checklist. It also contains an index and catalog that allow splitting the given data stream into files
according to the SCAP components.

T he data stream uses XML format that consists of a header formed by a table of contents and a list of the
<ds:com ponent> elements. Each of these elements encompasses an SCAP component such as
XCCDF, OVAL, CPE, and other. T he data stream file may contain multiple components of the same type,
and thus covering all security policies needed by your organization.

Example 6.3. An Example of a Data Stream Header

<ds:data-stream-collection xmlns:ds="http://scap.nist.gov/schema/scap/source/1.2"
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
xmlns:cat="urn:oasis:names:tc:entity:xmlns:xml:catalog"
id="scap_org.open-scap_collection_from_xccdf_ssg-rhel7-xccdf-1.2.xml"
schematron-version="1.0">
<ds:data-stream id="scap_org.open-scap_datastream_from_xccdf_ssg-rhel7-xccdf-
1.2.xml"
scap-version="1.2" use-case="OTHER">
<ds:dictionaries>
<ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-
dictionary.xml"
xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-
dictionary.xml">

135
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

<cat:catalog>
<cat:uri name="ssg-rhel7-cpe-oval.xml"
uri="#scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-oval.xml"/>
</cat:catalog>
</ds:component-ref>
</ds:dictionaries>
<ds:checklists>
<ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel7-xccdf-1.2.xml"
xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_ssg-rhel7-xccdf-1.2.xml">
<cat:catalog>
<cat:uri name="ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"
uri="#scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"/>
</cat:catalog>
</ds:component-ref>
</ds:checklists>
<ds:checks>
<ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"
xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"/>
<ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-oval.xml"
xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-oval.xml"/>
<ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"
xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_output--ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"/>
</ds:checks>
</ds:data-stream>
<ds:component id="scap_org.open-scap_comp_ssg-rhel7-oval.xml"
timestamp="2014-03-14T16:21:59">
<oval_definitions xmlns="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5"
xmlns:oval="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-common-5"
xmlns:ind="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#independent"
xmlns:unix="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#unix"
xmlns:linux="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#linux"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-common-5
oval-common-schema.xsd
http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5
oval-definitions-schema.xsd
http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#independent
independent-definitions-schema.xsd
http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#unix
unix-definitions-schema.xsd
http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#linux
linux-definitions-schema.xsd">

6.3. Using SCAP Workbench

SCAP Workbench (scap-workbench) is a graphical utility that allows users to perform configuration and
vulnerability scans on a single local or remote system, perform remediation of the system, and generate
reports based on scan evaluations. Note that, in comparison with the oscap command-line utility, SCAP
Workbench has only limited functionality. SCAP Workbench can also process only security content in form
of XCCDF and data stream files.

T he following sections explain how to install, start, and utilize SCAP Workbench in order to perform system
scans, remediation, scan customization, and display relevant examples for these tasks.

6.3.1. Installing SCAP Workbench

136
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

T o install SCAP Workbench on your system, run the following command as root:

~]# yum install scap-workbench

T his command installs all packages required by SCAP Workbench to function properly, including the scap-
workbench package that provides the utility itself. Note that required dependencies, such as the qt and
openssh packages, will be automatically updated to the newest available version if the packages are
already installed on your system.

Before you can start using SCAP Workbench effectively, you also need to install or import some security
content on your system. You can download the SCAP content from the respective web site, or if specified
as an RPM file or package, you can install it from the specified location, or known repository, using the
Yum package manager.

For example, you can install the SCAP Security Guide (SSG) package, scap-security-guide, that contains
the currently most evolved and elaborate set of security polices for Linux systems. See the SSG project
page to learn the exact steps how to deploy the package on your system.

After you install the scap-security-guide on your system, unless specified otherwise, the SSG security
content is available under the /usr/share/xm l/scap/ssg/rhel7/ directory, and you can proceed with
other security compliance operations.

T o find out other possible sources of existing SCAP content that might suit your needs, see Section 6.7,
“Additional Resources”.

6.3.2. Running SCAP Workbench

After the successful installation of both, the SCAP Workbench utility and SCAP content, you can start using
SCAP Workbench on your systems. For running SCAP Workbench from the GNOME Classic desktop
environment, press the Super key to enter the Activities Overview, type scap-workbench, and then
press Enter. T he Super key appears in a variety of guises, depending on the keyboard and other
hardware, but often as either the Windows or Command key, and typically to the left of the Spacebar key.

As soon as you start the utility, the SCAP Workbench window appears. T he SCAP Workbench window
consists of several interactive components which you should become familiar with before you start
scanning your system:

Input file

T his field contains the full path to the chosen security policy. You can search for applicable SCAP
content on your system by clicking the Browse button.

Checklist

T his combo box displays the name of the checklist that is to be applied by the selected security
policy. You can choose a specific checklist by clicking this combo box if more than one checklist is
available.

T ailoring

T his combo box informs you about the customization used for the given security policy. You can
select custom rules that will be applied for the system evaluation by clicking this combo box. T he
default value is (no tailoring), which means that there will be no changes to the used security
policy. If you made any changes to the selected security profile, you can save those changes as
an XML file by clicking the Save T ailoring button.

Profile

137
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

T his combo box contains the name of the selected security profile. You can select the security
profile from a given XCCDF or data stream file by clicking this combo box. T o create a new profile
that inherits properties of the selected security profile, click the Custom ize button.

T arget

T he two radio buttons enable you to select whether the system to be evaluated is a local or
remote machine.

Selected Rules

T his field displays a list of security rules that are subject of the security policy. Hovering over a
particular security rule provides detailed information about that rule.

Save content

T his menu allows you to save SCAP files that have been selected in the Input file and T ailoring
fields either to the selected directory or as an RPM package.

Status bar

T his is a graphical bar that indicates status of an operation that is being performed.

Online remediation

T his check box enables the remediation feature during the system evaluation. If you check this
box, SCAP Workbench will attempt to correct system settings that would fail to match the state
defined by the policy.

Scan

T his button allows you to start the evaluation of the specified system.

138
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

Figure 6.1. SCAP Workbench Window

6.3.3. Scanning the System

T he main functionality of SCAP Workbench is to perform security scans on the selected system in
accordance with the given XCCDF or data stream file. T o evaluate your system against the selected
security policy follow these steps:

1. Select a security policy by clicking the Browse button and searching the respective XCCDF or data
stream file.

Warning

Selecting a security policy results in loss of any previous tailoring changes that were not
saved. T o re-apply the lost options, you have to choose the available profile and tailoring
content again. Note that your previous customizations may not be applicable with the new
security policy.

2. If the selected SCAP file is a data stream file that provides more than one checklist, you can select
the particular checklist by clicking the Checklist combo box.

139
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Warning

Changing the checklist may result in selection of a different profile and any previous
customizations may not be applicable to the new checklist.

3. If you have pre-arranged a file with customized security content specific to your use case, you can
load this file by clicking on the T ailoring combo box. You can also create a custom tailoring file by
altering an available security profile. For more information, see Section 6.3.4, “Customizing Security
Profiles”.

a. Select the (no tailoring) option if you do not want to use any customization for the
current system evaluation. T his is the default option if no previous customization was
selected.

b. Select the (open tailoring file...) option to search up the particular tailoring file to
be used for the current system evaluation.

c. If you have previously used some tailoring file, SCAP Workbench remembers this file and
adds it to the list. T his simplifies repetitive application of the same scan.

4. Select a suitable security profile by clicking the Profile combo box.

a. Modify further the selected profile by clicking the Custom ize button. For more information
about profile customization, see Section 6.3.4, “Customizing Security Profiles”.

5. Select either of two T arget radio buttons to scan either a local or a remote machine.

a. If you have selected a remote system, specify it by entering the user name, hostname, and the
port information as shown in the following example:

Figure 6.2. Specifying a Remote System

6. You can allow automatic correction of the system configuration by selecting the Online
rem ediation check box. With this option enabled, SCAP Workbench will attempt to change the
system configuration in accordance with security rules applied by the policy, should the related
checks fail during the system scan.

Warning

If not used carefully, running the system evaluation with the remediation option enabled could
render the system non-functional.

7. Click the Scan button to initiate the system scan.

6.3.4. Customizing Security Profiles

After selecting the security profile that suits your security policy, you can further adjust it by clicking the
Custom ize button. T his will open the new T ailoring window that allows you to modify the currently

14 0
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

selected XCCDF profile without actually changing the respective XCCDF file.

Figure 6.3. Customizing the Selected Security Profile

T he T ailoring window contains a complete set of XCCDF elements relevant to the selected security
profile with detailed information about each element and its functionality. You can enable or disable these
elements by selecting or de-selecting the respective check boxes in the main field of this window. T he
T ailoring window also supports undo and redo functionality; you can undo or redo your selections by
clicking the respective arrow icon in the top left corner of the window.

After you have finished your profile customizations, confirm the changes by clicking the Finish
T ailoring button. Your changes are now in the memory and do not persist if SCAP Workbench is
closed or certain changes, such as selecting a new SCAP content or choosing another tailoring option, are
made. If you wish your changes to be stored, click the Save T ailoring button in the SCAP Workbench
window. T his action allows you save your changes to the security profile as an XCCDF tailoring file in the
chosen directory. Note that this tailoring file can be also further selected with another profiles.

6.3.5. Saving SCAP Content

SCAP Workbench also allows you to save SCAP content that is used with your system evaluations. You
can either save a tailoring file separately (see Section 6.3.4, “Customizing Security Profiles”) or you can
save all security content at once by clicking the Save content combo box and selecting either the Save
into a directory or Save as RPM options.

By selecting the Save into a directory option, SCAP Workbench saves both the XCCDF or data
stream file and the tailoring file to the specified location. T his can be useful as a backup solution.

14 1
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

By selecting the Save as RPM option, you can instruct SCAP Workbench to create an RPM package
containing the XCCDF or data stream file and tailoring file. T his is useful for distributing the desired
security content to systems that cannot be scanned remotely, or just for delivering the content for further
processing.

Figure 6.4 . Saving the Current SCAP Content as an RPM Package

6.3.6. Viewing Scan Results and Generating Scan Reports

After the system scan is finished, two new buttons, Clear and Report, will appear instead of the Scan
button.

Warning

Clicking the Clear button permanently removes the scan results.

You can display and further process the scan results by clicking the Report button, which opens the
Evaluation Report window. T his window contains the Save combo box, and two buttons, Open in
Browser, and Close.

You can store the scan results in form of an XCCDF, ARF, or HT ML file if you click the Save combo box.
Choose the HT ML Report option to generate the scan report in human-readable form. T he XCCDF and
ARF (data stream) formats are suitable for further automatic processing. You can repeatedly choose all
three options.

14 2
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

If you prefer to view the scan results immediately without saving them, you can click the Open in
Browser button, which opens the scan results in form of a temporary HT ML file in your default web
browser.

6.4. Using oscap

T he oscap command-line utility allows users to scan their local systems, validate security compliance
content, and generate reports and guides based on these scans and evaluations. T his utility serves as a
front end to the OpenSCAP library and groups its functionalities to modules (sub-commands) based on a
type of the SCAP content it processes.

T he following sections explain how to install oscap, perform the most common operations, and display the
relevant examples for these tasks. T o learn more about specific sub-commands, use the --help option
with an oscap command:

oscap [options] module module_operation

[module_operation_options_and_arguments] --help

where module represents a type of SCAP content that is being processed, and module_operation is a
sub-command for the specific operation on the SCAP content.

Example 6.4 . Getting Help on the Specific oscap Operation

~]$ oscap ds sds-split --help

oscap -> ds -> sds-split

Split given SourceDataStream into separate files

Usage: oscap [options] ds sds-split [options] SDS TARGET_DIRECTORY

SDS - Source data stream that will be split into multiple files.
TARGET_DIRECTORY - Directory of the resulting files.

Options:
--datastream-id <id> - ID of the datastream in the collection to use.
--xccdf-id <id> - ID of XCCDF in the datastream that should be
evaluated.

T o learn about all oscap features and the complete list of its options, see the oscap(8) manual page.

6.4.1. Installing oscap

T o install oscap to your system, run the following command as root:

~]# yum install openscap-utils

T his command allows you to install all packages required by oscap to function properly, including the
openscap package that provides the utility itself. If you want to write your own security content, you should
also install the openscap-engine-sce package that provides the Script Check Engine (SCE). SCE is an
extension to SCAP protocol that allows content authors to write their security content using a scripting
language, such as Bash, Python or Ruby. T he package can be installed in the same way as the openscap-
utils packages.

14 3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Optionally, after installing oscap, you can check capabilities of your version of oscap, what specifications
it supports, where the certain oscap files are stored, what kinds of SCAP objects you can use, and other
useful information. T o display this information, type the following command:

~]$ oscap -V
OpenSCAP command line tool (oscap) 1.0.4
Copyright 2009--2014 Red Hat Inc., Durham, North Carolina.

==== Supported specifications ====

XCCDF Version: 1.2
OVAL Version: 5.10.1
CPE Version: 2.3
CVSS Version: 2.0
CVE Version: 2.0
Asset Identification Version: 1.1
Asset Reporting Format Version: 1.1

==== Capabilities added by auto-loaded plugins ====

SCE Version: 1.0 (from libopenscap_sce.so.8)

==== Paths ====

Schema files: /usr/share/openscap/schemas
Schematron files: /usr/share/openscap/xsl
Default CPE files: /usr/share/openscap/cpe
Probes: /usr/libexec/openscap

==== Inbuilt CPE names ====

Red Hat Enterprise Linux - cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 - cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 - cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
Fedora 16 - cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:16
Fedora 17 - cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:17
Fedora 18 - cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:18
Fedora 19 - cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:19
Fedora 20 - cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:20
Fedora 21 - cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:21
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Optional Productivity Applications -
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_productivity
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Optional Productivity Applications 5 -
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_productivity:5

==== Supported OVAL objects and associated OpenSCAP probes ====

system_info probe_system_info
family probe_family
filehash probe_filehash
environmentvariable probe_environmentvariable
textfilecontent54 probe_textfilecontent54
textfilecontent probe_textfilecontent
variable probe_variable
xmlfilecontent probe_xmlfilecontent
environmentvariable58 probe_environmentvariable58
filehash58 probe_filehash58
inetlisteningservers probe_inetlisteningservers
rpminfo probe_rpminfo
partition probe_partition
iflisteners probe_iflisteners
rpmverify probe_rpmverify
rpmverifyfile probe_rpmverifyfile
rpmverifypackage probe_rpmverifypackage
selinuxboolean probe_selinuxboolean
selinuxsecuritycontext probe_selinuxsecuritycontext

14 4
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

file probe_file
interface probe_interface
password probe_password
process probe_process
runlevel probe_runlevel
shadow probe_shadow
uname probe_uname
xinetd probe_xinetd
sysctl probe_sysctl
process58 probe_process58
fileextendedattribute probe_fileextendedattribute
routingtable probe_routingtable

Before you can start using the oscap utility effectively, you also have to install or import some security
content on your system. You can download the SCAP content from the respective web site, or if specified
as an RPM file or package, you can install it from the specified location, or known repository, using the
Yum package manager.

For example, you can install the SCAP Security Guide (SSG) package, scap-security-guide, that contains
the latest set of security polices for Linux systems. See the SSG project page to learn the exact steps how
to deploy the package on your system.

After you install the scap-security-guide on your system, unless specified otherwise, the SSG security
content is available under the /usr/share/xm l/scap/ssg/rhel7/ directory, and you can proceed with
other security compliance operations.

T o find out other possible sources of existing SCAP content that might suit your needs, see Section 6.7,
“Additional Resources”.

After installing the SCAP content on your system, oscap can process the content by specifying the file
path to the content. T he oscap utility supports SCAP version 1.2 and is backward compatible with SCAP
versions 1.1 and 1.0 so it can process earlier versions of the SCAP content without any special
requirements.

6.4.2. Displaying SCAP Content

SCAP standard defines numerous file formats. T he oscap utility can process or create files conforming to
many of the formats. In order to further process the given file with SCAP content, you need to understand
how to use oscap with the given file type. If you are unsure how to use a particular file, you can either
open and read the file, or you can use the info module of oscap which parses the file and extracts
relevant information in human-readable format.

Run the following command to examine the internal structure of a SCAP document and display useful
information such as the document type, specification version, a status of the document, the date the
document was published, and the date the document was copied to a file system:

oscap info file

where file is the full path to the security content file being examined. T he following example better
illustrates the usage of the oscap info command:

14 5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Example 6.5. Displaying Information About SCAP Content

~]$ oscap info /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xmal

Document type: Source Data Stream
Imported: 2014-03-14T12:22:01

Stream: scap_org.open-scap_datastream_from_xccdf_ssg-rhel7-xccdf-1.2.xml
Generated: (null)
Version: 1.2
Checklists:
Ref-Id: scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel7-xccdf-1.2.xml
Profiles:
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_test
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-ccp
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_common
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_stig-rhel7-server-
upstream
Referenced check files:
ssg-rhel7-oval.xml
system: http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-
definitions-5
Checks:
Ref-Id: scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel7-oval.xml
Ref-Id: scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-oval.xml
Ref-Id: scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-oval.xml
Dictionaries:
Ref-Id: scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel7-cpe-dictionary.xml

6.4.3. Scanning the System

T he most important functionality of oscap is to perform configuration and vulnerability scans of a local
system. T he following is a general syntax of the respective command:

oscap [options] module eval [module_operation_options_and_arguments]

T he oscap utility can scan systems against the SCAP content represented by both, an XCCDF (T he
eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format) benchmark and OVAL (Open Vulnerability and
Assessment Language) definitions. T he security policy can have a form of a single OVAL or XCCDF file or
multiple separate XML files where each file represents a different component (XCCDF, OVAL, CPE, CVE,
and others). T he result of a scan can be printed to both, standard output and an XML file. T he result file
can be then further processed by oscap in order to generate a report in a human-readable format. T he
following examples illustrate the most common usage of the command.

Example 6.6. Scanning the System Using the SSG OVAL definitions

T o scan your system against the SSG OVAL definition file while evaluating all definitions, run the
following command:

~]$ oscap oval eval --results scan-oval-results.xml

/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

T he results of the scan will be stored as the scan-oval-results.xm l file in the current directory.

14 6
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

Example 6.7. Scanning the System Using the SSG OVAL definitions

T o evaluate a particular OVAL definition from the security policy represented by the SSG data stream
file, run the following command:

~]$ oscap oval eval --id oval:ssg:def:100 --results scan-oval-results.xml

/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

T he results of the scan will be stored as the scan-oval-results.xm l file in the current directory.

Example 6.8. Scanning the System Using the SSG XCCDF benchmark

T o perform the SSG XCCDF benchmark for the xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-

ccp profile on your system, run the following command:

~]$ oscap xccdf eval --profile xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-ccp --

results scan-xccdf-results.xml scan-xccdf-results.xml
/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

T he results of the scan will be stored as the scan-xccdf-results.xm l file in the current directory.

Note

T he --profile command-line argument selects the security profile from the given XCCDF or
data stream file. T he list of available profiles can be obtained by running the oscap info
command. If the --profile command-line argument is omitted the default XCCDF profile is
used as required by SCAP standard. Note that the default XCCDF profile may or may not be an
appropriate security policy.

6.4.4. Generating Reports and Guides

Another useful features of oscap is the ability to generate SCAP content in a human-readable format. T he
oscap utility allows you to transform an XML file into the HT ML or plain-text format. T his feature is used to
generate security guides and checklists, which serve as a source of information, as well as guidance for
secure system configuration. T he results of system scans can also be transformed to well-readable result
reports. T he general command syntax is the following:

oscap module generate sub-module [specific_module/sub-

module_options_and_arguments] file

where module is either xccdf or oval, sub-module is a type of the generated document, and file
represents an XCCDF or OVAL file.

T he following are the most common examples of the command usage:

14 7
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Example 6.9. Generating a Guide with a Checklist

T o produce an SSG guide with a checklist for the

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-ccp profile, run the following command:

~]$ oscap xccdf generate guide --profile

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-ccp
/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml > ssg-guide-checklist.html

T he guide will be stored as the ssg-guide-checklist.htm l file in the current directory.

Example 6.10. T ransforming an SSG OVAL Scan Result into a Report

T o transform a result of an SSG OVAL scan into a HT ML file, run the following command:

~]$ oscap oval generate report scan-oval-results.xml > ssg-scan-oval-

report.html

T he result report will be stored as the ssg-scan-oval-report.htm l file in the current directory.
T his example assumes that you run the command from the same location where the scan-oval-
results.xm l file is stored. Otherwise you need to specify the fully-qualified path of the file that
contains the scan results.

Example 6.11. T ransforming an SSG XCCDF Scan Result into a Report

T o transform a result of an SSG XCCDF scan into a HT ML file, run the following command:

~]$ oscap xccdf generate report scan-xccdf-results.xml > scan-xccdf-

report.html

T he result report will be stored as the ssg-scan-xccdf-report.htm l file in the current directory.
Alternatively, you can generate this report in the time of the scan using the --report command-line
argument:

~]$ oscap xccdf eval --profile xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-ccp -

-resultsscan-xccdf-results.xml --report scan-xccdf-
report.html/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

6.4.5. Validating SCAP Content

Before you start using a security policy on your systems, you should first verify the policy in order to avoid
any possible syntax or semantic errors in the policy. T he oscap utility can be used to validate the security
content against standard SCAP XML schemas. T he validation results are printed to the standard error
stream (stderr). T he general syntax of such a validation command is the following:

oscap module validate [module_options_and_arguments] file

where file is the full path to the file being validated. T he only exception is the data stream module (ds),
which uses the ds-validate operation instead of validate. Note that all SCAP components within the
given data stream are validated automatically and none of the components is specified separately, as can
be seen in the following example:

14 8
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

~]$ oscap ds sds-validate /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

With certain SCAP content, such as OVAL specification, you can also perform a Schematron validation.
T he Schematron validation is slower than the standard validation but provides deeper analysis, and is
thus able to detect more errors. T he following SSG example shows typical usage of the command:

~]$ oscap oval validate --schematron /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-

ds.xml

6.5. Using OpenSCAP with Red Hat Satellite

When running multiple Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, it is important to keep all your systems compliant
with your security policy and perform security scans and evaluations remotely from one location. T his can
be achieved by using Red Hat Satellite 5.5 or later with the spacewalk-oscap package installed on your
Satellite client. T he package is available from the Red Hat Network T ools channel.

T his solution supports two methods of performing security compliance scans, viewing and further
processing of the scan results. You can either use the OpenSCAP Satellite Web Interface or run
commands and scripts from the Satellite API. For more information about this solution to security
compliance, its requirements and capabilities, see the Red Hat Satellite 5.6 User Guide.

6.6. Practical Examples

T his section demonstrates practical usage of certain security content provided for Red Hat products.

6.6.1. Auditing Security Vulnerabilities of Red Hat Products

Red Hat continuously provides OVAL definitions for their products. T hese definitions allow for fully
automated audit of vulnerabilities in the installed software. T o find out more information about this project,
see http://www.redhat.com/security/data/metrics/. T o download these definitions, run the following
command:

~]$ wget http://www.redhat.com/security/data/oval/com.redhat.rhsa-all.xml

T he users of Red Hat Satellite 5 may find useful the XCCDF part of the patch definitions. T o download
these definitions, run the following command:

~]$ wget http://www.redhat.com/security/data/metrics/com.redhat.rhsa-

all.xccdf.xml

T o audit security vulnerabilities for the software installed on the system, run the following command:

~]$ oscap oval eval --results rhsa-results-oval.xml --report oval-report.html

com.redhat.rhsa-all.xml

T he oscap utility maps Red Hat Security Advisories to CVE identifiers that are linked to the National
Vulnerability Database and reports which security advisories are not applied.

14 9
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Note

Note that these OVAL definitions are designed to only cover software and updates released by
Red Hat. You need to provide additional definitions in order to detect the patch status of third-party
software.

6.6.2. Auditing System Settings with SCAP Security Guide

T he SCAP Security Guide (SSG) project's package, scap-security-guide, contains the latest set of security
polices for Linux systems. See the SSG project page to learn how to deploy the package on your system.
Part of scap-security-guide is also a guidance for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 settings. T o inspect the
security content available with scap-security-guide, use the oscap info module:

~]$ oscap info /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

T he output of this command is an outline of the SSG document and it contains available configuration
profiles. T o audit your system settings, choose a suitable profile and run the appropriate evaluation
command. For example, the following command is used to assess the given system against a draft SCAP
profile for Red Hat Certified Cloud Providers:

~]$ oscap xccdf eval --profile xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_rht-ccp --

results ssg-rhel7-xccdf-result.xml --report ssg-rhel7-report.html
/usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/rhel7/ssg-rhel7-ds.xml

6.7. Additional Resources

For more information about various security compliance fields of interest, see the resources below.

Installed Documentation

oscap(8) — T he manual page for the oscap command-line utility provides a complete list of available
options and their usage explanation.

scap-workbench(8) — T he manual page for the SCAP Workbench application provides a basic
information about the application as well as some links to potential sources of SCAP content.

Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 — An HT ML document located in the
/usr/share/doc/scap-security-guide-0.1.5/ directory that provides a detailed guide for
security settings of your system in form of an XCCDF checklist.

Online Documentation

T he OpenSCAP project page — T he home page to the OpenSCAP project provides detailed
information about the oscap utility and other components and projects related to SCAP.

T he SCAP Workbench project page — T he home page to the SCAP Workbench project provides
detailed information about the scap-workbench application.

T he SCAP Security Guide (SSG) project page — T he home page to the SSG project that provides the
latest security content for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

150
 ⁠C hapter 6. Compliance and Vulnerability Scanning

National Institute of Standards and T echnology (NIST ) SCAP page — T his page represents a vast
collection of SCAP related materials, including SCAP publications, specifications, and the SCAP
Validation Program.

National Vulnerability Database (NVD) — T his page represents the largest repository of SCAP content
and other SCAP standards based vulnerability management data.

Red Hat OVAL content repository — T his is a repository containing OVAL definitions for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux systems.

MIT RE CVE — T his is a database of publicly known security vulnerabilities provided by the MIT RE
corporation.

MIT RE OVAL — T his page represents an OVAL related project provided by the MIT RE corporation.
Amongst other OVAL related information, these pages contain the latest version of the OVAL language
and a huge repository of OVAL content, counting over 22 thousands OVAL definitions.

Red Hat Satellite 5.6 User Guide — T his book describes, amongst other topics, how to maintain
system security on multiple systems by using OpenSCAP.

151
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Chapter 7. Federal Standards and Regulations

In order to maintain security levels, it is possible for your organization to make efforts to comply with
federal and industry security specifications, standards and regulations. T his chapter describes some of
these standards and regulations.

7.1. Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)

T he Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-2, is a computer security standard,
developed by a U.S. Government and industry working group to validate the quality of cryptographic
modules. FIPS publications (including 140-2) can be found at the following URL:
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsFIPS.html. Note that at the time of writing, Publication 140-3 is at Draft
status, and may not represent the completed standard. T he FIPS standard provides four (4) security
levels, to ensure adequate coverage of different industries, implementations of cryptographic modules and
organizational sizes and requirements. T hese levels are described below:

Level 1 — Security Level 1 provides the lowest level of security. Basic security requirements are
specified for a cryptographic module (for example, at least one Approved algorithm or Approved
security function shall be used). No specific physical security mechanisms are required in a Security
Level 1 cryptographic module beyond the basic requirement for production-grade components. An
example of a Security Level 1 cryptographic module is a personal computer (PC) encryption board.

Level 2 — Security Level 2 enhances the physical security mechanisms of a Security Level 1
cryptographic module by adding the requirement for tamper-evidence, which includes the use of
tamper-evident coatings or seals or for pick-resistant locks on removable covers or doors of the
module. T amper-evident coatings or seals are placed on a cryptographic module so that the coating or
seal must be broken to attain physical access to the plaintext cryptographic keys and critical security
parameters (CSPs) within the module. T amper-evident seals or pick-resistant locks are placed on
covers or doors to protect against unauthorized physical access.

Level 3 — In addition to the tamper-evident physical security mechanisms required at Security Level 2,
Security Level 3 attempts to prevent the intruder from gaining access to CSPs held within the
cryptographic module. Physical security mechanisms required at Security Level 3 are intended to have
a high probability of detecting and responding to attempts at physical access, use or modification of the
cryptographic module. T he physical security mechanisms may include the use of strong enclosures
and tamper detection/response circuitry that zeroes all plaintext CSPs when the removable
covers/doors of the cryptographic module are opened.

Level 4 — Security Level 4 provides the highest level of security defined in this standard. At this
security level, the physical security mechanisms provide a complete envelope of protection around the
cryptographic module with the intent of detecting and responding to all unauthorized attempts at
physical access. Penetration of the cryptographic module enclosure from any direction has a very high
probability of being detected, resulting in the immediate zeroization of all plaintext CSPs. Security Level
4 cryptographic modules are useful for operation in physically unprotected environments.

See the full FIPS 140-2 standard at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips140-2/fips1402.pdf for further

details on these levels and the other specifications of the FIPS standard.

7.1.1. Enabling FIPS Mode

T o make Red Hat Enterprise Linux compliant with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)
Publication 140-2 you need to make several changes to ensure that accredited cryptographic modules are
used. T o turn your system (kernel and user space) into FIPS mode, follow these steps:

152
 ⁠C hapter 7. Federal Standards and Regulations

1. For proper operation of the in-module integrity verification, the prelink has to be disabled. T his can
be done by setting configuring PRELINKING=no in the /etc/sysconfig/prelink configuration
file. Existing prelinking, if any, should be undone on all system files using the prelink -u -a
command.

2. Next, install the dracut-fips package:

~]# yum install dracut-fips

3. Recreate the initram fs file:

~]# dracut -f

Warning

T his operation will overwrite the existing initram fs file.

4. Modify the kernel command line of the current kernel in the /boot/grub/grub.conf file by adding
the following option:

fips=1

Note

If /boot or /boot/efi reside on separate partitions, the kernel parameter

boot=<partition of /boot or /boot/efi> must be added to the kernel command line.
You can identify a partition by running the df /boot or df /boot/efi command
respectively:

~]$ df /boot
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 495844 53780 416464 12% /boot

T o ensure that the boot= configuration option will work even if device naming changes
between boots, identify the universally unique identifier (UUID) of the partition by running the
following command:

~]$ blkid /dev/sda1

/dev/sda1: UUID="05c000f1-f899-467b-a4d9-d5ca4424c797" TYPE="ext4"

For the example above, the following string needs to appended to the kernel command line:

boot=UUID=05c000f1-f899-467b-a4d9-d5ca4424c797

5. Reboot your system.

Should you require strict FIPS compliance, the fips=1 kernel option needs to be added to the kernel
command line during system installation so that key generation is done with FIPS approved algorithms and
continuous monitoring tests in place. Users should also ensure that the system has plenty of entropy
during the installation process by moving the mouse around, or if no mouse is available, ensuring that

153
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

many keystrokes are typed. T he recommended amount of keystrokes is 256 and more. Less than 256
keystrokes may generate a non-unique key.

7.2. National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual

(NISPOM)
T he NISPOM (also called DoD 5220.22-M), as a component of the National Industrial Security Program
(NISP), establishes a series of procedures and requirements for all government contractors with regard to
classified information. T he current NISPOM is dated February 28, 2006, with incorporated major changes
from March 28, 2013. T he NISPOM document can be downloaded from the following URL:
http://www.nispom.org/NISPOM-download.html.

7.3. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

From https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/about/index.shtml: The PCI Security Standards Council is an
open global forum, launched in 2006, that is responsible for the development, management, education,
and awareness of the PCI Security Standards, including the Data Security Standard (DSS).

You can download the PCI DSS standard from

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml.

7.4. Security Technical Implementation Guide

A Security T echnical Implementation Guide or ST IG is a methodology for standardized secure installation
and maintenance of computer software and hardware.

See the following URL for more information on ST IG: http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/index.html.

154
 Encryption Standards

Encryption Standards

A.1. Synchronous Encryption

A.1.1. Advanced Encryption Standard — AES
In cryptography, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is an encryption standard adopted by the U.S.
Government. T he standard comprises three block ciphers, AES-128, AES-192 and AES-256, adopted from
a larger collection originally published as Rijndael. Each AES cipher has a 128-bit block size, with key
sizes of 128, 192 and 256 bits, respectively. T he AES ciphers have been analyzed extensively and are
now used worldwide, as was the case with its predecessor, the Data Encryption Standard (DES). ⁠ [3]

A.1.1.1. AES History

AES was announced by National Institute of Standards and T echnology (NIST ) as U.S. FIPS PUB 197
(FIPS 197) on November 26, 2001 after a 5-year standardization process. Fifteen competing designs were
presented and evaluated before Rijndael was selected as the most suitable. It became effective as a
standard May 26, 2002. It is available in many different encryption packages. AES is the first publicly
accessible and open cipher approved by the NSA for top secret information (see Security of AES, below).
[4]

T he Rijndael cipher was developed by two Belgian cryptographers, Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, and
submitted by them to the AES selection process. Rijndael is a portmanteau of the names of the two
inventors. ⁠ [5]

A.1.2. Data Encryption Standard — DES

T he Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a block cipher (a form of shared secret encryption) that was
selected by the National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard
(FIPS) for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. It
is based on a symmetric-key algorithm that uses a 56-bit key. T he algorithm was initially controversial with
classified design elements, a relatively short key length, and suspicions about a National Security Agency
(NSA) backdoor. DES consequently came under intense academic scrutiny which motivated the modern
understanding of block ciphers and their cryptanalysis. ⁠ [6 ]

A.1.2.1. DES History

DES is now considered to be insecure for many applications. T his is chiefly due to the 56-bit key size
being too small; in January, 1999, distributed.net and the Electronic Frontier Foundation collaborated to
publicly break a DES key in 22 hours and 15 minutes. T here are also some analytical results which
demonstrate theoretical weaknesses in the cipher, although they are unfeasible to mount in practice. T he
algorithm is believed to be practically secure in the form of T riple DES, although there are theoretical
attacks. In recent years, the cipher has been superseded by the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). ⁠ [7]

In some documentation, a distinction is made between DES as a standard and DES the algorithm which is
referred to as the DEA (the Data Encryption Algorithm). ⁠ [8 ]

A.2. Public-key Encryption

155
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Public-key cryptography is a cryptographic approach, employed by many cryptographic algorithms and

cryptosystems, whose distinguishing characteristic is the use of asymmetric key algorithms instead of or in
addition to symmetric key algorithms. Using the techniques of public key-private key cryptography, many
methods of protecting communications or authenticating messages formerly unknown have become
practical. T hey do not require a secure initial exchange of one or more secret keys as is required when
using symmetric key algorithms. It can also be used to create digital signatures. ⁠ [9 ]

Public key cryptography is a fundamental and widely used technology around the world, and is the
approach which underlies such Internet standards as T ransport Layer Security (T LS) (successor to SSL),
PGP and GPG. ⁠ [10 ]

T he distinguishing technique used in public key cryptography is the use of asymmetric key algorithms,
where the key used to encrypt a message is not the same as the key used to decrypt it. Each user has a
pair of cryptographic keys — a public key and a private key. T he private key is kept secret, whilst the
public key may be widely distributed. Messages are encrypted with the recipient's public key and can only
be decrypted with the corresponding private key. T he keys are related mathematically, but the private key
cannot be feasibly (ie, in actual or projected practice) derived from the public key. It was the discovery of
such algorithms which revolutionized the practice of cryptography beginning in the middle 1970s. ⁠ [11]

In contrast, Symmetric-key algorithms, variations of which have been used for some thousands of years,
use a single secret key shared by sender and receiver (which must also be kept private, thus accounting
for the ambiguity of the common terminology) for both encryption and decryption. T o use a symmetric
encryption scheme, the sender and receiver must securely share a key in advance. ⁠ [12]

Because symmetric key algorithms are nearly always much less computationally intensive, it is common to
exchange a key using a key-exchange algorithm and transmit data using that key and a symmetric key
algorithm. PGP, and the SSL/T LS family of schemes do this, for instance, and are called hybrid
cryptosystems in consequence. ⁠ [13]

A.2.1. Diffie-Hellman
Diffie–Hellman key exchange (D–H) is a cryptographic protocol that allows two parties that have no prior
knowledge of each other to jointly establish a shared secret key over an insecure communications
channel. T his key can then be used to encrypt subsequent communications using a symmetric key cipher.
[14]

A.2.1.1. Diffie-Hellman History

T he scheme was first published by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in 1976, although it later emerged
that it had been separately invented a few years earlier within GCHQ, the British signals intelligence
agency, by Malcolm J. Williamson but was kept classified. In 2002, Hellman suggested the algorithm be
called Diffie–Hellman–Merkle key exchange in recognition of Ralph Merkle's contribution to the invention of
public-key cryptography (Hellman, 2002). ⁠ [15]

Although Diffie–Hellman key agreement itself is an anonymous (non-authenticated) key-agreement

protocol, it provides the basis for a variety of authenticated protocols, and is used to provide perfect
forward secrecy in T ransport Layer Security's ephemeral modes (referred to as EDH or DHE depending
on the cipher suite). ⁠ [16 ]

U.S. Patent 4,200,770, now expired, describes the algorithm and credits Hellman, Diffie, and Merkle as
inventors. ⁠ [17]

A.2.2. RSA

156
 Encryption Standards

In cryptography, RSA (which stands for Rivest, Shamir and Adleman who first publicly described it) is an
algorithm for public-key cryptography. It is the first algorithm known to be suitable for signing as well as
encryption, and was one of the first great advances in public key cryptography. RSA is widely used in
electronic commerce protocols, and is believed to be secure given sufficiently long keys and the use of up-
to-date implementations.

A.2.3. DSA
DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) is a standard for digital signatures, a United States federal government
standard for digital signatures. DSA is for signatures only and is not an encryption algorithm. ⁠ [18 ]

A.2.4. SSL/TLS
T ransport Layer Security (T LS) and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic
protocols that provide security for communications over networks such as the Internet. T LS and SSL
encrypt the segments of network connections at the T ransport Layer end-to-end.

Several versions of the protocols are in widespread use in applications like web browsing, electronic mail,
Internet faxing, instant messaging and voice-over-IP (VoIP). ⁠ [19 ]

A.2.5. Cramer-Shoup Cryptosystem

T he Cramer–Shoup system is an asymmetric key encryption algorithm, and was the first efficient scheme
proven to be secure against adaptive chosen ciphertext attack using standard cryptographic assumptions.
Its security is based on the computational intractability (widely assumed, but not proved) of the decisional
Diffie–Hellman assumption. Developed by Ronald Cramer and Victor Shoup in 1998, it is an extension of
the ElGamal cryptosystem. In contrast to ElGamal, which is extremely malleable, Cramer–Shoup adds
additional elements to ensure non-malleability even against a resourceful attacker. T his non-malleability is
achieved through the use of a collision-resistant hash function and additional computations, resulting in a
ciphertext which is twice as large as in ElGamal. ⁠ [20 ]

A.2.6. ElGamal Encryption

In cryptography, the ElGamal encryption system is an asymmetric key encryption algorithm for public-key
cryptography which is based on the Diffie-Hellman key agreement. It was described by T aher ElGamal in
1985. ElGamal encryption is used in the free GNU Privacy Guard software, recent versions of PGP, and
other cryptosystems. ⁠ [21]

[3] " Ad vanc ed Enc ryp tio n Stand ard ." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Ad vanc ed _Enc ryp tio n_Stand ard

[4] " Ad vanc ed Enc ryp tio n Stand ard ." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Ad vanc ed _Enc ryp tio n_Stand ard

[5] " Ad vanc ed Enc ryp tio n Stand ard ." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Ad vanc ed _Enc ryp tio n_Stand ard

[6 ] " Data Enc ryp tio n Stand ard ." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Data_Enc ryp tio n_Stand ard

[7] " Data Enc ryp tio n Stand ard ." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Data_Enc ryp tio n_Stand ard

[8 ] " Data Enc ryp tio n Stand ard ." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Data_Enc ryp tio n_Stand ard

[9 ] " Pub lic -key Enc ryp tio n." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Pub lic -key_c ryp to g rap hy

[10 ] " Pub lic -key Enc ryp tio n." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Pub lic -key_c ryp to g rap hy

[11] " Pub lic -key Enc ryp tio n." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Pub lic -key_c ryp to g rap hy

[12] " Pub lic -key Enc ryp tio n." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Pub lic -key_c ryp to g rap hy

[13] " Pub lic -key Enc ryp tio n." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Pub lic -key_c ryp to g rap hy

[14] " Diffie-Hellman." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Diffie-Hellman

157
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

[15] " Diffie-Hellman." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Diffie-Hellman

[16 ] " Diffie-Hellman." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Diffie-Hellman

[17] " Diffie-Hellman." Wikipedia. 14 No vemb er 20 0 9 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Diffie-Hellman

[18 ] " DSA." Wikipedia. 24 Feb ruary 20 10 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Dig ital_Sig nature_Alg o rithm

[19 ] " TLS/SSL." Wikipedia. 24 Feb ruary 20 10 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Trans p o rt_Layer_Sec urity

[20 ] " Cramer-Sho up c ryp to s ys tem." Wikipedia. 24 Feb ruary 20 10 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Cramer–Sho up _c ryp to s ys tem

[21] " ElG amal enc ryp tio n" Wikipedia. 24 Feb ruary 20 10 http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/ElG amal_enc ryp tio n

158
 Audit System Reference

Audit System Reference

B.1. Audit Event Fields

T able B.1, “Event Fields” lists all currently-supported Audit event fields. An event field is the value
preceding the equal sign in the Audit log files.

T able B.1. Event Fields

Event Field Explanation

a0, a1, a2, a3 Records the first four arguments of the system call, encoded in
hexadecimal notation.
acct Records a user's account name.
addr Records the IPv4 or IPv6 address. T his field usually follows a hostnam e
field and contains the address the host name resolves to.
arch Records information about the CPU architecture of the system, encoded
in hexadecimal notation.
auid Records the Audit user ID. T his ID is assigned to a user upon login and
is inherited by every process even when the user's identity changes (for
example, by switching user accounts with su - john).
capability Records the number of bits that were used to set a particular Linux
capability. For more information on Linux capabilities, refer to the
capabilities(7) man page.
cap_fi Records data related to the setting of an inherited file system-based
capability.
cap_fp Records data related to the setting of a permitted file system-based
capability.
cap_pe Records data related to the setting of an effective process-based
capability.
cap_pi Records data related to the setting of an inherited process-based
capability.
cap_pp Records data related to the setting of a permitted process-based
capability.
cgroup Records the path to the cgroup that contains the process at the time
the Audit event was generated.
cm d Records the entire command line that is executed. T his is useful in case
of shell interpreters where the exe field records, for example,
/bin/bash as the shell interpreter and the cm d field records the rest of
the command line that is executed, for example helloworld.sh --
help.
com m Records the command that is executed. T his is useful in case of shell
interpreters where the exe field records, for example, /bin/bash as the
shell interpreter and the com m field records the name of the script that is
executed, for example helloworld.sh.
cwd Records the path to the directory in which a system call was invoked.
data Records data associated with T T Y records.
dev Records the minor and major ID of the device that contains the file or
directory recorded in an event.
devm ajor Records the major device ID.

159
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Event Field Explanation

devm inor Records the minor device ID.
egid Records the effective group ID of the user who started the analyzed
process.
euid Records the effective user ID of the user who started the analyzed
process.
exe Records the path to the executable that was used to invoke the analyzed
process.
exit Records the exit code returned by a system call. T his value varies by
system call. You can interpret the value to its human-readable equivalent
with the following command: ausearch --interpret --exit
exit_code
fam ily Records the type of address protocol that was used, either IPv4 or IPv6.
filetype Records the type of the file.
flags Records the file system name flags.
fsgid Records the file system group ID of the user who started the analyzed
process.
fsuid Records the file system user ID of the user who started the analyzed
process.
gid Records the group ID.
hostnam e Records the host name.
icm ptype Records the type of a Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) package
that is received. Audit messages containing this field are usually
generated by iptables.
id Records the user ID of an account that was changed.
inode Records the inode number associated with the file or directory recorded
in an Audit event.
inode_gid Records the group ID of the inode's owner.
inode_uid Records the user ID of the inode's owner.
item s Records the number of path records that are attached to this record.
key Records the user defined string associated with a rule that generated a
particular event in the Audit log.
list Records the Audit rule list ID. T he following is a list of known IDs:

0 — user
1 — task
4 — exit
5 — exclude

m ode Records the file or directory permissions, encoded in numerical notation.

m sg Records a time stamp and a unique ID of a record, or various event-
specific <name>=<value> pairs provided by the kernel or user space
applications.
m sgtype Records the message type that is returned in case of a user-based AVC
denial. T he message type is determined by D-Bus.
nam e Records the full path of the file or directory that was passed to the
system call as an argument.

160
 Audit System Reference

Event Field Explanation

new-disk Records the name of a new disk resource that is assigned to a virtual
machine.
new-m em Records the amount of a new memory resource that is assigned to a
virtual machine.
new-vcpu Records the number of a new virtual CPU resource that is assigned to a
virtual machine.
new-net Records the MAC address of a new network interface resource that is
assigned to a virtual machine.
new_gid Records a group ID that is assigned to a user.
oauid Records the user ID of the user that has logged in to access the system
(as opposed to, for example, using su) and has started the target
process. T his field is exclusive to the record of type OBJ_PID.
ocom m Records the command that was used to start the target process.T his
field is exclusive to the record of type OBJ_PID.
opid Records the process ID of the target process. T his field is exclusive to
the record of type OBJ_PID.
oses Records the session ID of the target process. T his field is exclusive to
the record of type OBJ_PID.
ouid Records the real user ID of the target process
obj Records the SELinux context of an object. An object can be a file, a
directory, a socket, or anything that is receiving the action of a subject.
obj_gid Records the group ID of an object.
obj_lev_high Records the high SELinux level of an object.
obj_lev_low Records the low SELinux level of an object.
obj_role Records the SELinux role of an object.
obj_uid Records the UID of an object
obj_user Records the user that is associated with an object.
ogid Records the object owner's group ID.
old-disk Records the name of an old disk resource when a new disk resource is
assigned to a virtual machine.
old-m em Records the amount of an old memory resource when a new amount of
memory is assigned to a virtual machine.
old-vcpu Records the number of an old virtual CPU resource when a new virtual
CPU is assigned to a virtual machine.
old-net Records the MAC address of an old network interface resource when a
new network interface is assigned to a virtual machine.
old_prom Records the previous value of the network promiscuity flag.
ouid Records the real user ID of the user who started the target process.
path Records the full path of the file or directory that was passed to the
system call as an argument in case of AVC-related Audit events
perm Records the file permission that was used to generate an event (that is,
read, write, execute, or attribute change)

161
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Event Field Explanation

pid T he pid field semantics depend on the origin of the value in this field.

In fields generated from user-space, this field holds a process ID.

In fields generated by the kernel, this field holds a thread ID. T he thread
ID is equal to process ID for single-threaded processes. Note that the
value of this thread ID is different from the values of pthread_t IDs used
in user-space. For more information, refer to the gettid(2) man page.

ppid Records the Parent Process ID (PID).

prom Records the network promiscuity flag.
proto Records the networking protocol that was used. T his field is specific to
Audit events generated by iptables.
res Records the result of the operation that triggered the Audit event.
result Records the result of the operation that triggered the Audit event.
saddr Records the socket address.
sauid Records the sender Audit login user ID. T his ID is provided by D-Bus as
the kernel is unable to see which user is sending the original auid.
ses Records the session ID of the session from which the analyzed process
was invoked.
sgid Records the set group ID of the user who started the analyzed process.
sig Records the number of a signal that causes a program to end
abnormally. Usually, this is a sign of a system intrusion.
subj Records the SELinux context of a subject. A subject can be a process, a
user, or anything that is acting upon an object.
subj_clr Records the SELinux clearance of a subject.
subj_role Records the SELinux role of a subject.
subj_sen Records the SELinux sensitivity of a subject.
subj_user Records the user that is associated with a subject.
success Records whether a system call was successful or failed.
suid Records the set user ID of the user who started the analyzed process.
syscall Records the type of the system call that was sent to the kernel.
term inal Records the terminal name (without /dev/).
tty Records the name of the controlling terminal. T he value (none) is used
if the process has no controlling terminal.
uid Records the real user ID of the user who started the analyzed process.
vm Records the name of a virtual machine from which the Audit event
originated.

B.2. Audit Record Types

T able B.2, “Record T ypes” lists all currently-supported types of Audit records. T he event type is specified
in the type= field at the beginning of every Audit record.

T able B.2. Record T ypes

162
 Audit System Reference

Event T ype Explanation

ADD_GROUP T riggered when a user-space group is added.
ADD_USER T riggered when a user-space user account is added.
ANOM_ABEND ⁠ [a] T riggered when a processes ends abnormally (with a signal that could
cause a core dump, if enabled).
ANOM_ACCESS_FS [a] T riggered when a file or a directory access ends abnormally.

ANOM_ADD_ACCT [a] T riggered when a user-space account addition ends abnormally.

ANOM_AMT U_FAIL[a] T riggered when a failure of the Abstract Machine T est Utility (AMT U) is
detected.
ANOM_CRYPT O_FAIL[a] T riggered when a failure in the cryptographic system is detected.

ANOM_DEL_ACCT [a] T riggered when a user-space account deletion ends abnormally.

ANOM_EXEC [a] T riggered when an execution of a file ends abnormally.

ANOM_LOGIN_ACCT [a] T riggered when an account login attempt ends abnormally.

ANOM_LOGIN_FAILURES [a] T riggered when the limit of failed login attempts is reached.

ANOM_LOGIN_LOCAT ION [a] T riggered when a login attempt is made from a forbidden location.

ANOM_LOGIN_SESSIONS [a] T riggered when a login attempt reaches the maximum amount of
concurrent sessions.
ANOM_LOGIN_T IME [a] T riggered when a login attempt is made at a time when it is prevented by,
for example, pam _tim e.
ANOM_MAX_DAC [a] T riggered when the maximum amount of Discretionary Access Control
(DAC) failures is reached.
ANOM_MAX_MAC [a] T riggered when the maximum amount of Mandatory Access Control
(MAC) failures is reached.
ANOM_MK_EXEC [a] T riggered when a file is made executable.

ANOM_MOD_ACCT [a] T riggered when a user-space account modification ends abnormally.

ANOM_PROMISCUOUS [a] T riggered when a device enables or disables promiscuous mode.

ANOM_RBAC_FAIL[a] T riggered when a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) self-test failure is

detected.
ANOM_RBAC_INT EGRIT Y_ T riggered when a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) file integrity test
FAIL[a] failure is detected.

ANOM_ROOT _T RANS [a] T riggered when a user becomes root.

AVC T riggered to record an SELinux permission check.
AVC_PAT H T riggered to record the dentry and vfsm ount pair when an SELinux
permission check occurs.
BPRM_FCAPS T riggered when a user executes a program with a file system capability.
CAPSET T riggered to record the capabilities being set for process-based
capabilities, for example, running as root to drop capabilities.
CHGRP_ID T riggered when a user-space group ID is changed.
CHUSER_ID T riggered when a user-space user ID is changed.
CONFIG_CHANGE T riggered when the Audit system configuration is modified.
CRED_ACQ T riggered when a user acquires user-space credentials.
CRED_DISP T riggered when a user disposes of user-space credentials.
CRED_REFR T riggered when a user refreshes their user-space credentials.

163
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Event T ype Explanation

CRYPT O_FAILURE_USER T riggered when a decrypt, encrypt, or randomize cryptographic operation
fails.
CRYPT O_KEY_USER T riggered to record the cryptographic key identifier used for
cryptographic purposes.
CRYPT O_LOGIN T riggered when a cryptographic officer login attempt is detected.
CRYPT O_LOGOUT T riggered when a crypto officer logout attempt is detected.
CRYPT O_PARAM_CHANGE_ T riggered when a change in a cryptographic parameter is detected.
USER
CRYPT O_REPLAY_USER T riggered when a replay attack is detected.
CRYPT O_SESSION T riggered to record parameters set during a T LS session establishment.
CRYPT O_T EST _USER T riggered to record cryptographic test results as required by the FIPS-
140 standard.
CWD T riggered to record the current working directory.
DAC_CHECK T riggered to record DAC check results.
DAEMON_ABORT T riggered when a daemon is stopped due to an error.
DAEMON_ACCEPT T riggered when the auditd daemon accepts a remote connection.
DAEMON_CLOSE T riggered when the auditd daemon closes a remote connection.
DAEMON_CONFIG T riggered when a daemon configuration change is detected.
DAEMON_END T riggered when a daemon is successfully stopped.
DAEMON_RESUME T riggered when the auditd daemon resumes logging.
DAEMON_ROT AT E T riggered when the auditd daemon rotates the Audit log files.
DAEMON_ST ART T riggered when the auditd daemon is started.
DEL_GROUP T riggered when a user-space group is deleted
DEL_USER T riggered when a user-space user is deleted
DEV_ALLOC T riggered when a device is allocated.
DEV_DEALLOC T riggered when a device is deallocated.
EOE T riggered to record the end of a multi-record event.
EXECVE T riggered to record arguments of the execve(2) system call.
FD_PAIR T riggered to record the use of the pipe and socketpair system calls.
FS_RELABEL T riggered when a file system relabel operation is detected.
GRP_AUT H T riggered when a group password is used to authenticate against a
user-space group.
INT EGRIT Y_DAT A ⁠ [b ] T riggered to record a data integrity verification event run by the kernel.

INT EGRIT Y_HASH [b ] T riggered to record a hash type integrity verification event run by the
kernel.
INT EGRIT Y_MET ADAT A[b ] T riggered to record a metadata integrity verification event run by the
kernel.
INT EGRIT Y_PCR [b ] T riggered to record Platform Configuration Register (PCR) invalidation
messages.
INT EGRIT Y_RULE [b ] T riggered to record a policy rule.

INT EGRIT Y_ST AT US [b ] T riggered to record the status of integrity verification.

IPC T riggered to record information about a Inter-Process Communication
object referenced by a system call.

164
 Audit System Reference

Event T ype Explanation

IPC_SET _PERM T riggered to record information about new values set by an IPC_SET
control operation on an IPC object.
KERNEL T riggered to record the initialization of the Audit system.
KERNEL_OT HER T riggered to record information from third-party kernel modules.
LABEL_LEVEL_CHANGE T riggered when an object's level label is modified.
LABEL_OVERRIDE T riggered when an administrator overrides an object's level label.
LOGIN T riggered to record relevant login information when a user log in to
access the system.
MAC_CIPSOV4 _ADD T riggered when a Commercial Internet Protocol Security Option (CIPSO)
user adds a new Domain of Interpretation (DOI). Adding DOIs is a part of
the packet labeling capabilities of the kernel provided by NetLabel.
MAC_CIPSOV4 _DEL T riggered when a CIPSO user deletes an existing DOI. Adding DOIs is a
part of the packet labeling capabilities of the kernel provided by NetLabel.
MAC_CONFIG_CHANGE T riggered when an SELinux Boolean value is changed.
MAC_IPSEC_EVENT T riggered to record information about an IPSec event, when one is
detected, or when the IPSec configuration changes.
MAC_MAP_ADD T riggered when a new Linux Security Module (LSM) domain mapping is
added. LSM domain mapping is a part of the packet labeling capabilities
of the kernel provided by NetLabel.
MAC_MAP_DEL T riggered when an existing LSM domain mapping is added. LSM domain
mapping is a part of the packet labeling capabilities of the kernel
provided by NetLabel.
MAC_POLICY_LOAD T riggered when a SELinux policy file is loaded.
MAC_ST AT US T riggered when the SELinux mode (enforcing, permissive, off) is
changed.
MAC_UNLBL_ALLOW T riggered when unlabeled traffic is allowed when using the packet
labeling capabilities of the kernel provided by NetLabel.
MAC_UNLBL_ST CADD T riggered when a static label is added when using the packet labeling
capabilities of the kernel provided by NetLabel.
MAC_UNLBL_ST CDEL T riggered when a static label is deleted when using the packet labeling
capabilities of the kernel provided by NetLabel.
MMAP T riggered to record a file descriptor and flags of the m m ap(2) system
call.
MQ_GET SET AT T R T riggered to record the m q_getattr(3) and m q_setattr(3)
message queue attributes.
MQ_NOT IFY T riggered to record arguments of the m q_notify(3) system call.
MQ_OPEN T riggered to record arguments of the m q_open(3) system call.
MQ_SENDRECV T riggered to record arguments of the m q_send(3) and
m q_receive(3) system calls.
NET FILT ER_CFG T riggered when Netfilter chain modifications are detected.
NET FILT ER_PKT T riggered to record packets traversing Netfilter chains.
OBJ_PID T riggered to record information about a process to which a signal is
sent.
PAT H T riggered to record file name path information.
RESP_ACCT _LOCK ⁠ [c ] T riggered when a user account is locked.

165
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Event T ype Explanation

RESP_ACCT _LOCK_T IMED [ T riggered when a user account is locked for a specified period of time.
c]

RESP_ACCT _REMOT E [c ] T riggered when a user account is locked from a remote session.
RESP_ACCT _UNLOCK_T IM T riggered when a user account is unlocked after a configured period of
ED [c ] time.

RESP_ALERT [c ] T riggered when an alert email is sent.

RESP_ANOMALY[c ] T riggered when an anomaly was not acted upon.

RESP_EXEC [c ] T riggered when an intrusion detection program responds to a threat

originating from the execution of a program.
RESP_HALT [c ] T riggered when the system is shut down.

RESP_KILL_PROC [c ] T riggered when a process is terminated.

RESP_SEBOOL[c ] T riggered when an SELinux Boolean value is set.

RESP_SINGLE [c ] T riggered when the system is put into single-user mode.

RESP_T ERM_ACCESS [c ] T riggered when a session is terminated.

RESP_T ERM_LOCK[c ] T riggered when a terminal is locked.

ROLE_ASSIGN T riggered when an administrator assigns a user to an SELinux role.
ROLE_MODIFY T riggered when an administrator modifies an SELinux role.
ROLE_REMOVE T riggered when an administrator removes a user from an SELinux role.
SELINUX_ERR T riggered when an internal SELinux error is detected.
SERVICE_ST ART T riggered when a service is started.
SERVICE_ST OP T riggered when a service is stopped.
SOCKADDR T riggered to record a socket address user or returned by a system call.
SOCKET CALL T riggered to record arguments of the sys_socketcall system call
(used to multiplex many socket-related system calls).
SYSCALL T riggered to record a system call to the kernel.
SYST EM_BOOT T riggered when the system is booted up.
SYST EM_RUNLEVEL T riggered when the system's run level is changed.
SYST EM_SHUT DOWN T riggered when the system is shut down.
T EST T riggered to record the success value of a test message.
T RUST ED_APP T he record of this type can be used by third party application that require
auditing.
TTY T riggered when T T Y input was sent to an administrative process.
USER_ACCT T riggered when a user-space user account is modified.
USER_AUT H T riggered when a user-space authentication attempt is detected.
USER_AVC T riggered when a user-space AVC message is generated.
USER_CHAUT HT OK T riggered when a user account attribute is modified.
USER_CMD T riggered when a user-space shell command is executed.
USER_END T riggered when a user-space session is terminated.
USER_ERR T riggered when a user account state error is detected.
USER_LABELED_EXPORT T riggered when an object is exported with an SELinux label.

166
 Audit System Reference

Event T ype Explanation

USER_LOGIN T riggered when a user logs in.
USER_LOGOUT T riggered when a user logs out.
USER_MAC_POLICY_LOAD T riggered when a user-space daemon loads an SELinux policy.
USER_MGMT T riggered to record user-space management data.
USER_ROLE_CHANGE T riggered when a user's SELinux role is changed.
USER_SELINUX_ERR T riggered when a user-space SELinux error is detected.
USER_ST ART T riggered when a user-space session is started.
USER_T T Y T riggered when an explanatory message about T T Y input to an
administrative process is sent from user-space.
USER_UNLABELED_EXPOR T riggered when an object is exported without SELinux label.
T
USYS_CONFIG T riggered when a user-space system configuration change is detected.
VIRT _CONT ROL T riggered when a virtual machine is started, paused, or stopped.
VIRT _MACHINE_ID T riggered to record the binding of a label to a virtual machine.
VIRT _RESOURCE T riggered to record resource assignment of a virtual machine.
[a] All Aud it event typ es p rep end ed with AN O M are intend ed to b e p ro c es s ed b y an intrus io n d etec tio n p ro g ram.
[b ] This event typ e is related to the Integ rity Meas urement Arc hitec ture (IMA), whic h func tio ns b es t with a Trus ted Platfo rm Mo d ule
(TPM) c hip .
[c ] All Aud it event typ es p rep end ed with R ES P are intend ed res p o ns es o f an intrus io n d etec tio n s ys tem in c as e it d etec ts
malic io us ac tivity o n the s ys tem.

167
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Guide

Revision History
Revision 1-14 .1 T ue Jun 03 2014 T omáš Čapek
Version for 7.0 GA release.

Revision 1-12.35 T ue May 20 2014 T omáš Čapek

Rebuild for style changes.

Revision 1-12 T ue, Mar 05 2013 Martin Prpič

Initial creation of the book.

168