RHEL 9 must automatically lock graphical user sessions after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258023	RHEL-09-271065	SV-258023r958402_rule		Medium

Description
A session time-out lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work and moves away from the immediate physical vicinity of the information system but does not logout because of the temporary nature of the absence. Rather than relying on the user to manually lock their operating system session prior to vacating the vicinity, the GNOME desktop can be configured to identify when a user's session has idled and take action to initiate a session lock. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000029-GPOS-00010, SRG-OS-000031-GPOS-00012

Description

A session time-out lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work and moves away from the immediate physical vicinity of the information system but does not logout because of the temporary nature of the absence. Rather than relying on the user to manually lock their operating system session prior to vacating the vicinity, the GNOME desktop can be configured to identify when a user's session has idled and take action to initiate a session lock. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000029-GPOS-00010, SRG-OS-000031-GPOS-00012

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

Details

Check Text ( C-61764r926054_chk )
Verify RHEL 9 initiates a session lock after a 15-minute period of inactivity for graphical user interfaces with the following command: Note: This requirement assumes the use of the RHEL 9 default graphical user interface, the GNOME desktop environment. If the system does not have any graphical user interface installed, this requirement is Not Applicable. $ sudo gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay uint32 900 If "idle-delay" is set to "0" or a value greater than "900", this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-61764r926054_chk )

Verify RHEL 9 initiates a session lock after a 15-minute period of inactivity for graphical user interfaces with the following command:

Note: This requirement assumes the use of the RHEL 9 default graphical user interface, the GNOME desktop environment. If the system does not have any graphical user interface installed, this requirement is Not Applicable.

$ sudo gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay

uint32 900

If "idle-delay" is set to "0" or a value greater than "900", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61688r926055_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to initiate a screensaver after a 15-minute period of inactivity for graphical user interfaces. Create a database to contain the system-wide screensaver settings (if it does not already exist) with the following command: $ sudo touch /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-screensaver Edit /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-screensaver and add or update the following lines: [org/gnome/desktop/session] # Set the lock time out to 900 seconds before the session is considered idle idle-delay=uint32 900 Update the system databases: $ sudo dconf update

Fix Text (F-61688r926055_fix)

Configure RHEL 9 to initiate a screensaver after a 15-minute period of inactivity for graphical user interfaces.

Create a database to contain the system-wide screensaver settings (if it does not already exist) with the following command:

$ sudo touch /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-screensaver

Edit /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-screensaver and add or update the following lines:

[org/gnome/desktop/session]
# Set the lock time out to 900 seconds before the session is considered idle
idle-delay=uint32 900

Update the system databases:

$ sudo dconf update