GEN003602 - The system must not process Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) timestamp requests - 'timestamp-reply -j DROP'

Information

The processing of (ICMP) timestamp requests increases the attack surface of the system.

Solution

Configure the system to not respond to ICMP TIMESTAMP_REQUESTs. This is done by rejecting ICMP type 13 and 14 messages at the firewall.

Procedure:
Edit /etc/sysconfig/iptables to add:

-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p ICMP --icmp-type timestamp-request -j DROP
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p ICMP --icmp-type timestamp-reply -j DROP

Restart the firewall:
# service iptables restart

See Also

http://iasecontent.disa.mil/stigs/zip/U_RedHat_5_V1R17_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-7, CAT|III, CCI|CCI-001551, CSCv6|9.2, Group-ID|V-22409, Rule-ID|SV-37601r2_rule, STIG-ID|GEN003602

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f5455938424db9f007abd07f2e45f58678d3d0fd680de1bd63a6f2594674ffea