RHEL 8 must be configured to disable USB mass storage.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-230503	RHEL-08-040080	SV-230503r809319_rule		Medium

Description
USB mass storage permits easy introduction of unknown devices, thereby facilitating malicious activity. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000114-GPOS-00059, SRG-OS-000378-GPOS-00163

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-09-11

Details

Check Text ( C-33172r809317_chk )
Verify the operating system disables the ability to load the USB Storage kernel module. $ sudo grep -r usb-storage /etc/modprobe.d/* \| grep -i "/bin/true" install usb-storage /bin/true If the command does not return any output, or the line is commented out, and use of USB Storage is not documented with the Information System Security Officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding. Verify the operating system disables the ability to use USB mass storage devices. Check to see if USB mass storage is disabled with the following command: $ sudo grep usb-storage /etc/modprobe.d/* \| grep -i "blacklist" blacklist usb-storage If the command does not return any output or the output is not "blacklist usb-storage" and use of USB storage devices is not documented with the Information System Security Officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-33172r809317_chk )

Verify the operating system disables the ability to load the USB Storage kernel module.

$ sudo grep -r usb-storage /etc/modprobe.d/* | grep -i "/bin/true"

install usb-storage /bin/true

If the command does not return any output, or the line is commented out, and use of USB Storage is not documented with the Information System Security Officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding.

Verify the operating system disables the ability to use USB mass storage devices.

Check to see if USB mass storage is disabled with the following command:

$ sudo grep usb-storage /etc/modprobe.d/* | grep -i "blacklist"

blacklist usb-storage

If the command does not return any output or the output is not "blacklist usb-storage" and use of USB storage devices is not documented with the Information System Security Officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-33147r809318_fix)
Configure the operating system to disable the ability to use the USB Storage kernel module and the ability to use USB mass storage devices. Add or update the following lines in the file "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf": install usb-storage /bin/true blacklist usb-storage Reboot the system for the settings to take effect.