Information
The net.ipv4.ip_forward and net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding flags are used to tell the system whether it can forward packets or not.
Rationale:
Setting the flags to 0 ensures that a system with multiple interfaces (for example, a hard proxy), will never be able to forward packets, and therefore, never serve as a router.
Solution
Set the following parameter in /etc/sysctl.conf or a /etc/sysctl.d/* file:
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0
net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding = 0
Run the following commands to set the active kernel parameters:
# sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=0
# sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=0
# sysctl -w net.ipv4.route.flush=1
# sysctl -w net.ipv6.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-72309
Rule ID: SV-86933r2_rule
STIG ID: RHEL-07-040740
Severity: CAT II