1.1.28 Disable USB Storage - blacklist

Information

USB storage provides a means to transfer and store files insuring persistence and availability of the files independent of network connection status. Its popularity and utility has led to USB-based malware being a simple and common means for network infiltration and a first step to establishing a persistent threat within a networked environment.

Rationale:

Restricting USB access on the system will decrease the physical attack surface for a device and diminish the possible vectors to introduce malware.

Solution

Edit or create a file in the /etc/modprobe.d/ directory ending in .conf
Example: vim /etc/modprobe.d/usb_storage.conf
Add the following line:

install usb-storage /bin/true

Run the following command to unload the usb-storage module:

rmmod usb-storage

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/3636

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|CM-6b., 800-53|IA-3, CCI|CCI-000366, CCI|CCI-000778, CCI|CCI-001958, CSCv6|3.1, CSCv7|8.4, CSCv7|8.5, Rule-ID|SV-204449r603261_rule, STIG-ID|RHEL-07-020100

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 4e430e7aac044258d1e1bfe33c5f2e2a69e1b4f66297bdeedc0d5e0ae5ea1464