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The ntpdate service must not be running.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-208939 OL6-00-000265 SV-208939r793725_rule Low
Description
The "ntpdate" service may only be suitable for systems which are rebooted frequently enough that clock drift does not cause problems between reboots. In any event, the functionality of the ntpdate service is now available in the ntpd program and should be considered deprecated.
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2021-12-03

Details

Check Text ( C-9192r357797_chk )
To check that the "ntpdate" service is disabled in system boot configuration, run the following command:

# chkconfig "ntpdate" --list

Output should indicate the "ntpdate" service has either not been installed, or has been disabled at all runlevels, as shown in the example below:

# chkconfig "ntpdate" --list
"ntpdate" 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off

Run the following command to verify "ntpdate" is disabled through current runtime configuration:

# service ntpdate status

If the service is disabled the command will return the following output:

ntpdate is stopped

If the service is running, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-9192r357798_fix)
The ntpdate service sets the local hardware clock by polling NTP servers when the system boots. It synchronizes to the NTP servers listed in "/etc/ntp/step-tickers" or "/etc/ntp.conf" and then sets the local hardware clock to the newly synchronized system time. The "ntpdate" service can be disabled with the following commands:

# chkconfig ntpdate off
# service ntpdate stop