The x86 Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence must be disabled.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-38668	RHEL-06-000286	SV-50469r1_rule		High

Description
A locally logged-in user who presses Ctrl-Alt-Delete, when at the console, can reboot the system. If accidentally pressed, as could happen in the case of mixed OS environment, this can create the risk of short-term loss of availability of systems due to unintentional reboot. In the GNOME graphical environment, risk of unintentional reboot from the Ctrl-Alt-Delete sequence is reduced because the user will be prompted before any action is taken.

Description

A locally logged-in user who presses Ctrl-Alt-Delete, when at the console, can reboot the system. If accidentally pressed, as could happen in the case of mixed OS environment, this can create the risk of short-term loss of availability of systems due to unintentional reboot. In the GNOME graphical environment, risk of unintentional reboot from the Ctrl-Alt-Delete sequence is reduced because the user will be prompted before any action is taken.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2014-06-11

Details

Check Text ( C-46228r1_chk )
Determine what actions the system takes when the Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence is pressed, run the following command: # cat `grep -l control-alt-delete /etc/init/*` Examine all lines following the "start on control-alt-delete" line in any files found. By default, the system uses "/etc/init/control-alt-delete.conf" to reboot the system with the following command when the Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence is pressed: exec /sbin/shutdown -r now "Control-Alt-Delete pressed" If the system is configured to run any shutdown command, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-46228r1_chk )

Determine what actions the system takes when the Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence is pressed, run the following command:

# cat `grep -l control-alt-delete /etc/init/*`

Examine all lines following the "start on control-alt-delete" line in any files found. By default, the system uses "/etc/init/control-alt-delete.conf" to reboot the system with the following command when the Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence is pressed:

exec /sbin/shutdown -r now "Control-Alt-Delete pressed"

If the system is configured to run any shutdown command, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-43617r1_fix)
Configure the system to log a message instead of rebooting the system by altering the "shutdown" line in "/etc/init/control-alt-delete.conf" to read as follows: exec /usr/bin/logger -p security.info "Ctrl-Alt-Delete pressed"