3.2.5 Ensure broadcast ICMP requests are ignored - /etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.d/*

Information

Setting net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts to 1 will cause the system to ignore all ICMP echo and timestamp requests to broadcast and multicast addresses.

Rationale:

Accepting ICMP echo and timestamp requests with broadcast or multicast destinations for your network could be used to trick your host into starting (or participating) in a Smurf attack. A Smurf attack relies on an attacker sending large amounts of ICMP broadcast messages with a spoofed source address. All hosts receiving this message and responding would send echo-reply messages back to the spoofed address, which is probably not routable. If many hosts respond to the packets, the amount of traffic on the network could be significantly multiplied.

Solution

Set the following parameters in /etc/sysctl.conf or a /etc/sysctl.d/* file:

net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1

Run the following commands to set the active kernel parameters:

# sysctl -w net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts=1

# sysctl -w net.ipv4.route.flush=1

Notes:

This Benchmark recommendation maps to:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide:

Version 2, Release: 3 Benchmark Date: 26 Apr 2019



Vul ID: V-72287

Rule ID: SV-86911r2_rule

STIG ID: RHEL-07-040630

Severity: CAT II

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2688

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6, CSCv7|5.1

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 81ea734f66281887bd97961cdcbc1dbda2baef0a4fd27a2a154f3c66c10d0d69