The local initialization file lists of preloaded libraries must contain only absolute paths on AIX.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-215425	AIX7-00-003130	SV-215425r508663_rule		Medium

Description
The library preload list environment variable contains a list of libraries for the dynamic linker to load before loading the libraries required by the binary. If this list contains paths to libraries relative to the current working directory, unintended libraries may be preloaded. This variable is formatted as a space-separated list of libraries.

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

Details

Check Text ( C-16623r294726_chk )
Identify local initialization files that have library search paths: # cat /etc/passwd \| cut -f 1,1 -d ":" \| xargs -n1 -IUSER sh -c 'grep -l LDR_PRELOAD ~USER/.*' /root/.sh_history /home/doejohn/.profile /home/doejane/.profile For each file identified above, verify the search path contains only absolute paths: Note: This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of paths. # cat \| grep -Ei 'ldr\|preload' LDR_PRELOAD=/usr/lib If the paths listed have not been documented and authorized by the ISSO/ISSM, this is a finding. If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is a finding. If an entry begins with a character other than a slash (/) or other than "$PATH", it is a relative path, and this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-16623r294726_chk )

Identify local initialization files that have library search paths:

# cat /etc/passwd | cut -f 1,1 -d ":" | xargs -n1 -IUSER sh -c 'grep -l LDR_PRELOAD ~USER/.*'
/root/.sh_history
/home/doejohn/.profile
/home/doejane/.profile

For each file identified above, verify the search path contains only absolute paths:
Note: This variable is formatted as a colon-separated list of paths.

# cat | grep -Ei 'ldr|preload'
LDR_PRELOAD=/usr/lib

If the paths listed have not been documented and authorized by the ISSO/ISSM, this is a finding.
If there is an empty entry, such as a leading or trailing colon, or two consecutive colons, this is a finding.
If an entry begins with a character other than a slash (/) or other than "$PATH", it is a relative path, and this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-16621r294727_fix)
Edit the local initialization file and remove the relative path entry from the library preload variable "LDR_PRELOAD".