UBTU-18-010502 - The Ubuntu operating system must synchronize internal information system clocks to the authoritative time source when the time difference is greater than one second.

Information

Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events.

Synchronizing internal information system clocks provides uniformity of time stamps for information systems with multiple system clocks and systems connected over a network. Organizations should consider setting time periods for different types of systems (e.g., financial, legal, or mission-critical systems).

Organizations should also consider endpoints that may not have regular access to the authoritative time server (e.g., mobile, teleworking, and tactical endpoints). This requirement is related to the comparison done every 24 hours in SRG-OS-000355 because a comparison must be done in order to determine the time difference.

Solution

Configure chrony to synchronize the internal system clocks to the authoritative source when the time difference is greater than one second by doing the following,

Edit the /etc/chrony/chrony.conf file and add:

makestep 1 -1

Restart the chrony service,

# sudo systemctl restart chrony.service

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_CAN_Ubuntu_18-04_LTS_V2R15_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

References: 800-53|AU-8(1)(b), CAT|III, CCI|CCI-002046, Rule-ID|SV-219332r982209_rule, STIG-ID|UBTU-18-010502, STIG-Legacy|SV-109991, STIG-Legacy|V-100887, Vuln-ID|V-219332

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: d72a248277293d7c24d2eb28a77dfdcae111622b40cce1de03ee8324a2323c78