RHEL 9 must not forward IPv6 source-routed packets.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257973	RHEL-09-254020	SV-257973r943003_rule		Medium

Description
Source-routed packets allow the source of the packet to suggest that routers forward the packet along a different path than configured on the router, which can be used to bypass network security measures. This requirement applies only to the forwarding of source-routed traffic, such as when forwarding is enabled and the system is functioning as a router.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-01

Details

Check Text ( C-61714r943002_chk )

Verify RHEL 9 does not accept IPv6 source-routed packets. Note: If IPv6 is disabled on the system, this requirement is Not Applicable. Check the value of the accept source route variable with the following command: $ sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0 If the returned line does not have a value of "0", a line is not returned, or the line is commented out, this is a finding. Check that the configuration files are present to enable this network parameter. $ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config | egrep -v '^(#|;)' | grep -F net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route | tail -1 net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0 If "net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route" is not set to "0" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61638r925905_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to not forward IPv6 source-routed packets. Add or edit the following line in a single system configuration file, in the "/etc/sysctl.d/" directory: net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0 Load settings from all system configuration files with the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system