RHEL 9 must disable the kernel.core

RHEL 9 must disable the kernel.core_pattern.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257803	RHEL-09-213040	SV-257803r991589_rule		Medium

Description
A core dump includes a memory image taken at the time the operating system terminates an application. The memory image could contain sensitive data and is generally useful only for developers trying to debug problems.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-06-04

Details

Check Text ( C-61544r942972_chk )
Verify RHEL 9 disables storing core dumps with the following commands: $ sudo sysctl kernel.core_pattern kernel.core_pattern = \|/bin/false If the returned line does not have a value of "\|/bin/false", or a line is not returned and the need for core dumps is not documented with the information system security officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding. Check that the configuration files are present to disable core dump storage. $ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config \| egrep -v '^(#\|;)' \| grep -F kernel.core_pattern \| tail -1 kernel.core_pattern = \|/bin/false If "kernel.core_pattern" is not set to "\|/bin/false" and is not documented with the ISSO as an operational requirement, or is missing, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-61544r942972_chk )

Verify RHEL 9 disables storing core dumps with the following commands:

$ sudo sysctl kernel.core_pattern

kernel.core_pattern = |/bin/false

If the returned line does not have a value of "|/bin/false", or a line is not returned and the need for core dumps is not documented with the information system security officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding.

Check that the configuration files are present to disable core dump storage.

$ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config | egrep -v '^(#|;)' | grep -F kernel.core_pattern | tail -1

kernel.core_pattern = |/bin/false

If "kernel.core_pattern" is not set to "|/bin/false" and is not documented with the ISSO as an operational requirement, or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61468r925395_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to disable storing core dumps. Add or edit the following line in a system configuration file, in the "/etc/sysctl.d/" directory: kernel.core_pattern = \|/bin/false The system configuration files need to be reloaded for the changes to take effect. To reload the contents of the files, run the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system