3.4.2.1 Ensure firewalld is installed

Information

firewalld is a firewall management tool for Linux operating systems. It provides firewall features by acting as a front-end for the Linux kernel's netfilter framework via the iptables backend or provides firewall features by acting as a front-end for the Linux kernel's netfilter framework via the nftables utility.

firewalld replaces iptables as the default firewall management tool. Use the firewalld utility to configure a firewall for less complex firewalls. The utility is easy to use and covers the typical use cases scenario. FirewallD supports both IPv4 and IPv6 networks and can administer separate firewall zones with varying degrees of trust as defined in zone profiles.

Note: Starting in v0.6.0, FirewallD added support for acting as a front-end for the Linux kernel's netfilter framework via the nftables userspace utility, acting as an alternative to the nft command line program.

A firewall utility is required to configure the Linux kernel's netfilter framework via the iptables or nftables back-end.

The Linux kernel's netfilter framework host-based firewall can protect against threats originating from within a corporate network to include malicious mobile code and poorly configured software on a host.

Note: Only one firewall utility should be installed and configured. FirewallD is dependent on the iptables package.

Solution

Run the following command to install FirewallD and iptables :

# yum install firewalld iptables

Impact:

Changing firewall settings while connected over the network can result in being locked out of the system.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/15962

Item Details

Category: SECURITY ASSESSMENT AND AUTHORIZATION, SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|CA-9, 800-53|SC-7, 800-53|SC-7(5), CSCv7|9.4

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 5f2699edec2348f5d76eac71452c9280246d86d7c5892dac70ac803d9468f8bf