3.7 Disable IPv6

Information

Although IPv6 has many advantages over IPv4, not all organizations have IPv6 or dual
stack configurations implemented.

Rationale:

If IPv6 or dual stack is not to be used, it is recommended that IPv6 be disabled to reduce
the attack surface of the system.

Solution

Edit /etc/default/grub and add ipv6.disable=1 to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX parameters:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="ipv6.disable=1"

Depending or your distribution, run the appropriate following command to update the
grub2 configuration:

# grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

or

# update-grub

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2420

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-7(12), CSCv6|3, CSCv6|9.1, CSCv6|11, CSCv7|9.4

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 4816cba14a414fbc66a9eca53780329f72e1f8ae7a833aba5ab4e77d8bf9d97f