Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
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V-38597 | RHEL-06-000079 | SV-50398r2_rule | Medium |
Description |
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ExecShield uses the segmentation feature on all x86 systems to prevent execution in memory higher than a certain address. It writes an address as a limit in the code segment descriptor, to control where code can be executed, on a per-process basis. When the kernel places a process's memory regions such as the stack and heap higher than this address, the hardware prevents execution in that address range. |
STIG | Date |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2018-03-01 |
Check Text ( C-46155r3_chk ) |
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The status of the "kernel.exec-shield" kernel parameter can be queried by running the following command: $ sysctl kernel.exec-shield $ grep kernel.exec-shield /etc/sysctl.conf The output of the command should indicate a value of "1". If this value is not the default value, investigate how it could have been adjusted at runtime, and verify it is not set improperly in "/etc/sysctl.conf". If the correct value is not returned, this is a finding. |
Fix Text (F-43545r1_fix) |
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To set the runtime status of the "kernel.exec-shield" kernel parameter, run the following command: # sysctl -w kernel.exec-shield=1 If this is not the system's default value, add the following line to "/etc/sysctl.conf": kernel.exec-shield = 1 |