CIS CentOS and Alma Linux Benchmark Reports

Maintaining a set of generally accepted best practices in the cybersecurity industry is quite challenging.  Even the most complex networks are still subject to vulnerabilities and attacks that can have devastating consequences for an organization, if left unmanaged. The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is an organization that works with security experts to develop a set of 'best practice' security standards designed to harden operating systems and applications. These report templates provides a high-level overview of results gathered from CIS compliance scans using the CIS CentOS and Alma Linux Benchmarks.

Tenable Network Security has been certified by CIS to perform a wide variety of platform and application audits based on the best practice consensus benchmarks developed by CIS. Tenable submits example test cases for all of the criteria within each unique benchmark, and then submits our results to CIS personnel for official certification. Tenable has developed audit files based on the CIS CentOS and Alma Linux Benchmarks, which have been approved and certified by CIS staff members.

When performing managed scans with Tenable.sc, some CIS audits require additional patch audits and vulnerability checks. Any additional requirements for completing an audit using the CIS CentOS and Alma Linux benchmarks will be included within the audit file descriptions. In some cases, multiple scans may be required to be performed, as Tenable provides both Level 1 and Level 2 audit checks. Level 1 checks provide minimum settings recommendations, and are generally considered safe to apply to most systems. Level 2 checks include recommendations for complex or highly secure environments, and can lead to reduced functionality of key systems or applications.

When performing audit scans with Tenable.sc, audit files related to the CIS CentOS and Alma Linux benchmarks must first be uploaded to Tenable.sc. Next, the appropriate credentials must be added, after which a scan policy can be created. Finally, a scan can be scheduled. As part of the post scan jobs, the 'Auto-Run Reports' can be enabled automatically, running these report on the data collected using the appropriate audit file. Using these benchmarks will help to assess the effectiveness of existing security controls, and provide the critical information needed to improve an organization's security posture.

The reports are available in the Tenable.sc Feed, a comprehensive collection of dashboards, reports, Assurance Report Cards, and assets. The reports can be easily located in the Tenable.sc Feed under the category Compliance & Configuration Assessment. The report requirements are:

• Tenable.sc 5.2.0
• Nessus 8.5.1
• CIS Audit files for CentOS or Alma Linux are required, and the files required for each template are listed below with their respective templates. 

Organizations face many security program and business challenges. Tenable.sc helps to measure and communicate results with many compliance standards using the CIS Benchmarks. By default, Tenable.sc comes with over 200 audit files for CIS and more than 400 audit files overall, which supports the security operations team in performing audits on many system types and applications.  By prioritizing remediation actions for misconfigured systems, the organization can maximize their investment in compliance reporting and system hardening efforts. Tenable.sc delivers comprehensive security solutions that provide continuous visibility and critical context, enabling decisive actions to protect the organization.

Report Templates

CIS CentOS Linux 6 Benchmark v2.0.2 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 6 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms.  The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_6_Server_L1_v2.0.2.audit
• CIS_CentOS_6_Server_L2_v2.0.2.audit
• CIS_CentOS_6_Workstation_L1_v2.0.2.audit
• CIS_CentOS_6_Workstation_L2_v2.0.2.audit

CIS CentOS Linux 7 Benchmark v2.1.1 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 7 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_7_Server_L1_v2.1.1.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Server_L2_v2.1.1.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Workstation_L1_v2.1.1.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Workstation_L2_v2.1.1.audit

CIS CentOS 6 Workstation v2.1.0 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 6 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_6_Workstation_L1_v2.1.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_6_Workstation_L2_v2.1.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_6_Server_L1_v2.1.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_6_Server_L2_v2.1.0.audit

CIS CentOS 7 Workstation v2.2.0 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 7 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_7_Server_L1_v2.2.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Server_L2_v2.2.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Workstation_L1_v2.2.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Workstation_L2_v2.2.0.audit

CIS CentOS 7 Workstation v3.0.0 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 7 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_7_Server_L1_v3.0.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Server_L2_v3.0.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Workstation_L1_v3.0.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_7_Workstation_L2_v3.0.0.audit

CIS CentOS 8 v1.0.0 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 8 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_8_Server_L1_v1.0.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_8_Server_L2_v1.0.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_8_Workstation_L1_v1.0.0.audit
• CIS_CentOS_8_Workstation_L2_v1.0.0.audit

CIS CentOS 8 v2.0.0 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for CentOS Linux 8 systems running on x86 and x64 platforms. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_CentOS_8_Server_v2.0.0_L2.audit
• CIS_CentOS_8_Server_v2.0.0_L1.audit
• CIS_CentOS_8_Workstation_v2.0.0_L1.audit
• CIS_CentOS_8_Workstation_v2.0.0_L2.audit

CIS Alma Linux 8 v1.0.0 - This report template provides summaries of all the audit checks for Alma Linux 8 systems. The audit files required to support this report template are:

• CIS_AlmaLinux_OS_8_Server_v1.0.0_L1.audit
• CIS_AlmaLinux_OS_8_Server_v1.0.0_L2.audit
• CIS_AlmaLinux_OS_8_Workstation_v1.0.0_L2.audit
• CIS_AlmaLinux_OS_8_Workstation_v1.0.0_L1.audit