This checklist assumes that you are using a Linux-based server, and have physical and root-level access to the machine.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Status
  • Todo
  • Prologue
  • Levels of priority
  • OpenSCAP
• Partitioning
  • Separate Volumes
  • Restrict mount options
  • Polyinstantiated directories
  • Shared memory
  • Encrypt partitions
  • Section Checklist
• Physical Access
  • Password for Single User Mode
  • Section Checklist
• Bootloader
  • Protect bootloader config files
  • Section Checklist
• Linux Kernel
  • Kernel logs
  • Kernel pointers
  • ExecShield
  • Memory protection
  • Section Checklist
• Logging
  • Syslog
• Users and Groups
  • Passwords
  • Logon Access
  • Section Checklist
• Filesystem
  • Hardlinks & Symlinks
  • Dynamic Mounting and Unmounting
  • Section Checklist
• Permissions
• SELinux & Auditd
  • SELinux Enforcing
  • Section Checklist
• System Updates
• Network
  • TCP/SYN
  • Routing
  • ICMP Protocol
  • Broadcast
  • Section Checklist
• Services
• Tools

Introduction

[!Note] In computing, hardening is usually the process of securing a system by reducing its surface of vulnerability, which is larger when a system performs more functions; in principle a single-function system is more secure than a multipurpose one. The main goal of systems hardening is to reduce security risk by eliminating potential attack vectors and condensing the system’s attack surface.

This list contains the most important hardening rules for GNU/Linux systems.

Status

Still work in progress…

Proposed Order

1. Secure the BIOS/UEFI with a strong passphrase and disable booting from external media.
2. Secure the bootloader using a strong passphrase.
3. Disable unnecessary kernel modules.
4. Uninstall unnecessary software.
5. Configure regular updates.
6. Schedule daily snapshots of system data and realtime syncing of user data.
7. Configure a firewall, an IPS/IDS, and an integrity checker.
8. Enable AppArmor or SELinux.
9. Configure and enable Auditd.
10. Enable disk usage quotas.
11. Tighten permissions.
12. Configure PAM appropriately.
13. Restrict the wheel group’s commands.
14. Restrict su.
15. Create a privileged admin user and an unprivileged application user.
16. Disable root login.
17. Reboot

Todo

• Add rationale (e.g. url’s, external resources)
• Review levels of priority

Prologue

I’m not advocating throwing your existing hardening and deployment best practices out the door but I recommend is to always turn a feature from this checklist on in pre-production environments instead of jumping directly into production.

Levels of Priority

All items in this checklist have a priority level:

• This item can be skipped, but shouldn’t.
• This item should be implemented.
• This item must be implemented.

OpenSCAP

![[openscap_logo.png]] SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) provides a mechanism to check configurations, manage vulnerability, and evaluate policy compliance for a variety of systems. One of the most popular implementations of SCAP is OpenSCAP, and it is very helpful for vulnerability assessment and hardening.

Some of the external audit tools use this standard. For example, Nessus has functionality for authenticated SCAP scans.

I tried to make this list compatible with OpenSCAP standard and rules. However, there may be differences.

Partitioning

We will use logical volumes inside a single encrypted partition to keep our setup simple. This is known as LVM on LUKS, which uses a single encryption key to unlock our disk—as opposed to individual keys per partition.

Encrypt Partitions

• 

• Encrypt swap partition.

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/crypttab:
    sdb1_crypt /dev/sdb1 /dev/urandom cipher=aes-xts-plain64,size=256,swap,discard
  
    # Edit /etc/fstab:
    /dev/mapper/sdb1_crypt none swap sw 0 0
  

Separate Volumes

• 

Critical system directories should be separated as much as practically possible. This compartmentalization allows granular disk space allocation as well as the ability to apply granular security options to the mounts.

Restrict Mount Options

• 

Mount options for all separately mounted directories should be restricted as much as practically possible.

Recommended Setup

Below is a recommended baseline for secure volume mounts:

Mount Point	Size	Filesystem	Options
/home	15%	ext4	defaults,nosuid,nodev
/usr	10%	ext4	defaults,nodev
/boot	0.1%	ext2	defaults,noexec,nosuid,nodev,ro
/var	10%	ext4	defaults,nosuid,nodev
/var/log	15%	ext4	defaults,noexec,nosuid,nodev
/var/log/audit	15%	ext4	defaults,noexec,nosuid,nodev
/var/tmp	10%	ext4	defaults,noexec,nosuid,nodev
/tmp	0%	tmpfs
swap	10%	swap
/	100%FREE	ext4	defaults

Polyinstantiated Directories

#ToDo

• Setting up polyinstantiated /tmp and /var/tmp directories. Example:

    # Create new directories:
    mkdir --mode 000 /tmp/tmp-inst
    mkdir --mode 000 /var/tmp/tmp-inst
  
    # Edit /etc/security/namespace.conf:
    /tmp      /tmp/tmp-inst/          level  root,adm
    /var/tmp  /var/tmp/tmp-inst/  level  root,adm
  
    # Set correct SELinux context:
    setsebool polyinstantiation_enabled=1
    chcon --reference=/tmp /tmp/tmp-inst
    chcon --reference=/var/tmp/ /var/tmp/tmp-inst
  

System Processes

System processes should only be visible to members of the proc group.

• /proc Example:

    proc  /proc  proc  defaults,hidepid=2,gid=proc  0 0
  

Shared Memory

• /dev/shm Example:

    tmpfs  /dev/shm  tmpfs  rw,nodev,nosuid,noexec,size=1024M,mode=1770,uid=root,gid=shm 0 0
  

Section Checklist

Physical Access

Protect Single User Mode

• Protect Single User Mode with root password.

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/sysconfig/init.
    SINGLE=/sbin/sulogin
  

Section Checklist

Bootloader

Protect Bootloader Configuration

• Ensure bootloader config files are set properly permissions.

  Example:

    # Set the owner and group of /etc/grub.conf to the root user:
    chown root:root /etc/grub.conf
    chown -R root:root /etc/grub.d
  
    # Set permissions on the /etc/grub.conf or /etc/grub.d file to read and write for root only:
    chmod og-rwx /etc/grub.conf
    chmod -R og-rwx /etc/grub.d
  

Section Checklist

Linux Kernel

Kernel logs

• Restricting access to kernel logs.

  Example:

    echo "kernel.dmesg_restrict = 1" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-dmesg-restrict.conf
  

Kernel pointers

• Restricting access to kernel pointers.

  Example:

    echo "kernel.kptr_restrict = 1" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-kptr-restrict.conf
  

ExecShield

• ExecShield protection.

  Example:

    echo "kernel.exec-shield = 2" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-exec-shield.conf
  

Memory protections

• Randomise memory space.

    echo "kernel.randomize_va_space=2" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-rand-va-space.conf
  

Modules

• Disable USB:
  • # echo "install usb-storage /bin/false" >> /etc/modprobe.d/disable-modules.conf - Disable other unused modules:

       modules=(
       'thunderbolt'
       'firewire-core'
       'dccp'
       'sctp'
       'rds'
       'tipc'
       'n-hdlc'
       'ax25'
       'netrom'
       'x25'
       'rose'
       'decnet'
       'econet'
       'af_802154'
       'ipx'
       'appletalk'
       'psnap'
       'p8023'
       'p8022'
       'can'
       'atm'
       'cramfs'
       'jffs2'
       'hfsplus'
       'udf'
       'freevxfs'
       'hfs'
       'squashfs'
       'uvcvideo'
       'bluetooth'
       'btusb'
       'vivid'
       'gfs2'
       'ksmbd'
       'nfsv4'
       'nfsv3'
       'nfs'
       'cifs'
       )
       for module in ${modules[@]}; do
      echo "install ${module} /bin/false" >> /etc/modprobe.d/disable-modules.conf
       done
    

Section Checklist

Logging

Syslog

• Ensure syslog service is enabled and running.

  Example:

    systemctl enable rsyslog
    systemctl start rsyslog
  

• Send syslog data to external server.

  Example:

    # ELK
    # Logstash
    # Splunk
    # ...
  

Section Checklist

Users and Groups

Create Users

- `# useradd -m -s /bin/bash -G wheel admin && passwd admin`
- `# useradd -m -s /bin/bash -G users user && passwd user`

Configure PAM

- Use `pam_pwquality` to enforce a secure policy for passwords:
    - `# { echo "password required pam_unix.so use_authtok sha512 shadow rounds=65536"; echo "password required pam_pwquality.so retry=2 minlen=15 difok=8 dcredit=-3 ucredit=-2 lcredit=-2 ocredit=-3 enforce_for_root"; } >> /etc/pam.d/passwd`

Passwords

• Update password policy (PAM).

  Example:

    authconfig --passalgo=sha512 \
    --passminlen=14 \
    --passminclass=4 \
    --passmaxrepeat=2 \
    --passmaxclassrepeat=2 \
    --enablereqlower \
    --enablerequpper \
    --enablereqdigit \
    --enablereqother \
    --update
  

• Limit password reuse (PAM).

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth
  
    # For the pam_unix.so case:
    password sufficient pam_unix.so ... remember=5
  
    # For the pam_pwhistory.so case:
    password requisite pam_pwhistory.so ... remember=5
  

• Secure /etc/login.defs password policy.

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/login.defs
    PASS_MIN_LEN 14
    PASS_MIN_DAYS 1
    PASS_MAX_DAYS 60
    PASS_WARN_AGE 14
  

Logon Access

• Set auto logout inactive users.

  Example:

    echo "readonly TMOUT=900" >> /etc/profile.d/idle-users.sh
    echo "readonly HISTFILE" >> /etc/profile.d/idle-users.sh
    chmod +x /etc/profile.d/idle-users.sh
  

• Set last logon/access notification.

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth
    session required pam_lastlog.so showfailed
  

• Lock out accounts after a number of incorrect login (PAM).

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth and /etc/pam.d/password-auth
  
    # Add the following line immediately before the pam_unix.so statement in the AUTH section:
    auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent deny=3 unlock_time=never fail_interval=900
  
    # Add the following line immediately after the pam_unix.so statement in the AUTH section:
    auth [default=die] pam_faillock.so authfail deny=3 unlock_time=never fail_interval=900
  
    # Add the following line immediately before the pam_unix.so statement in the ACCOUNT section:
    account required pam_faillock.so
  

Restrict su Access

• Restrict usage to only the wheel group: # echo "auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid" >> /etc/pam.d/su # echo "auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid" >> /etc/pam.d/su-l
• Require authentication for su: # sed -i -e '/SINGLE/s/sushell/sulogin/' -e '/PROMPT/s/yes/no/' /etc/sysconfig/init

Lock root Account

• Lock root account: $ sudo passwd -l root
• Remove login shell: $ sudo sed -i '|^root.*|s|/bin/bash|/sbin/nologin|' /etc/password

Section Checklist

Filesystem

Hardlinks & Symlinks

• Enable hard/soft link protection.

  Example:

    echo "fs.protected_hardlinks = 1" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-fs-hardening.conf
    echo "fs.protected_symlinks = 1" >> /etc/sysctl.d/50-fs-hardening.conf
  

Dynamic Mounting and Unmounting

• Disable uncommon filesystems.

  Example:

    echo "install cramfs /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install freevxfs /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install jffs2 /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install hfs /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install hfsplus /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install squashfs /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install udf /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install fat /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install vfat /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install nfs /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install nfsv3 /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
    echo "install gfs2 /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/uncommon-fs.conf
  

Section Checklist

Permissions

• Set a restrictive default umask:
  • # echo "umask 0077" >> /etc/bash.bashrc
• Verify that no files are ownerless:
  • # find / -xdev \( -nouser -o -nogroup \) -print
• Verify that no files are world-writable:
  • # find / -xdev -type d \( -perm -0002 -a ! -perm -1000 \) -print
• Disable SUID for as many binaries as practical:
  • # find / -type f \( -perm -4000 -o -perm -2000 \) -print
  • # chmod g-s $path_to_program

SELinux & Auditd

SELinux Enforcing

• Set SELinux Enforcing mode.

  Example:

    # Edit /etc/selinux/config.
    SELINUXTYPE=enforcing
  

Auditd

Section Checklist

System Updates

Network

TCP/SYN

• Enable TCP SYN Cookie protection.

  Example:

    echo "net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-net-stack.conf
  

Routing

• Disable IP source routing.

  Example:

    echo "net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-net-stack.conf
  

ICMP Protocol

• Disable ICMP redirect acceptance.

  Example:

    echo "net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_redirects = 0" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-net-stack.conf
  

• Enable ignoring to ICMP requests.

  Example:

    echo "net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_all = 1" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-net-stack.conf
  

Broadcast

• Enable ignoring broadcasts request.

  Example:

    echo "net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1" > /etc/sysctl.d/50-net-stack.conf
  

Section Checklist

Services

Securing SSHd

Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config to harden the sshd service, if running.

• Change to a non-standard port (security by obscurity; mainly helps against bot scans on internet-facing servers):
  • Port 18822
• Prohibit root login:
  • PermitRootLogin no
• Deny logins using passwords:
  • PasswordAuthentication no
• Enable public key authentication:
  • PublicKeyAuthentication yes
• Prevent empty passwords:
  • PermitEmptyPasswords no
• Configure connection timeouts:
  • ClientAliveInterval 60
  • ClientAliveCountMax 5
• Disable IPv6, if not being used:
  • AddressFamily inet
• Whitelist specific users:
  • AllowUsers admin
• Set a banner in /etc/issue then activate it in sshd_config (mostly cosmetic):
  • Banner /etc/issue.net

Tools

Useful Tools

Fail2ban – a great tool for automatically banning suspicious IP addresses. ClamAV – an open-source antivirus engine. Lynis – open-source auditing tool for Linux Tripwire/aide/osiris – integrity check SATAN – netwrok scanner ISS (internet security scanner) SNORT

Other Notes

Ways to access root:

• login at tty
• while logged in as a user, run su and use the root password
• if running, login via ssh and use root password or configured key
• while logged in as doas user, run doas -u root /bin/bash
• while logged in as sudo user, run sudo -i