AIX must be configured to only boot from the system boot device.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-215410	AIX7-00-003112	SV-215410r508663_rule		Medium

Description
The ability to boot from removable media is the same as being able to boot into single user or maintenance mode without a password. This ability could allow a malicious user to boot the system and perform changes possibly compromising or damaging the system. It could also allow the system to be used for malicious purposes by a malicious anonymous user.

STIG	Date
IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-08-23

Details

Check Text ( C-16608r294681_chk )
Determine if the system is configured to boot from devices other than the system startup media by running command: # bootlist -m normal -o The returned values should be "hdisk{x}". If the system is setup to boot from a non-hard disk device, this is a finding. Additionally, ask the SA if the machine is setup for "multi-boot" in the SMS application. If multi-boot is enabled, the firmware will stop at boot time and request which image to boot from the user. If "multi-boot" is enabled, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-16608r294681_chk )

Determine if the system is configured to boot from devices other than the system startup media by running command:
# bootlist -m normal -o

The returned values should be "hdisk{x}".

If the system is setup to boot from a non-hard disk device, this is a finding.

Additionally, ask the SA if the machine is setup for "multi-boot" in the SMS application. If multi-boot is enabled, the firmware will stop at boot time and request which image to boot from the user.

If "multi-boot" is enabled, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-16606r294682_fix)
Configure the system to only boot from system startup media: # bootlist -m normal hdisk Set "multi-boot" to "off" in the SMS application.