RHEL 9 must not accept router advertisements on all IPv6 interfaces by default.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257975	RHEL-09-254030	SV-257975r943007_rule		Medium

Description
An illicit router advertisement message could result in a man-in-the-middle attack.

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

Details

Check Text ( C-61716r943006_chk )

Verify RHEL 9 does not accept router advertisements on all IPv6 interfaces by default, unless the system is a router. Note: If IPv6 is disabled on the system, this requirement is Not Applicable. Determine if router advertisements are not accepted by default by using the following command: $ sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra = 0 If the "accept_ra" value is not "0" and 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 enable this network parameter. $ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config | egrep -v '^(#|;)' | grep -F net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra | tail -1 net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra = 0 If "net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra" is not set to "0" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61640r925911_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to not accept router advertisements on all IPv6 interfaces by default unless the system is a router. Add or edit the following line in a single system configuration file, in the "/etc/sysctl.d/" directory: net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra = 0 Load settings from all system configuration files with the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system