RHEL-09-211055 - RHEL 9 debug-shell systemd service must be disabled.

Information

The debug-shell requires no authentication and provides root privileges to anyone who has physical access to the machine. While this feature is disabled by default, masking it adds an additional layer of assurance that it will not be enabled via a dependency in systemd. This also prevents attackers with physical access from trivially bypassing security on the machine through valid troubleshooting configurations and gaining root access when the system is rebooted.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Solution

Configure RHEL 9 to mask the debug-shell systemd service with the following command:

$ sudo systemctl disable --now debug-shell.service
$ sudo systemctl mask --now debug-shell.service

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_RHEL_9_V2R2_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL, CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|AC-6(10), 800-53|CM-6b., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000366, CCI|CCI-002235, Rule-ID|SV-257786r958726_rule, STIG-ID|RHEL-09-211055, Vuln-ID|V-257786

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 2277e92f3afc6b62326a8aaab8f9bbfb4e0aa3f076e1d889ed20359ef75ac3b1