AIX must be configured to only boot from the system boot device.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-215410 | AIX7-00-003112 | SV-215410r991589_rule | CCI-000366 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| The ability to boot from removable media is the same as being able to boot into single user or maintenance mode without a password. This ability could allow a malicious user to boot the system and perform changes possibly compromising or damaging the system. It could also allow the system to be used for malicious purposes by a malicious anonymous user. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-08-16 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-215410r991589_chk)
Determine if the system is configured to boot from devices other than the system startup media by running command:
# bootlist -m normal -o
The returned values should be "hdisk{x}".
If the system is setup to boot from a non-hard disk device, this is a finding.
Additionally, ask the SA if the machine is setup for "multi-boot" in the SMS application. If multi-boot is enabled, the firmware will stop at boot time and request which image to boot from the user.
If "multi-boot" is enabled, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-16606r294682_fix)
Configure the system to only boot from system startup media:
# bootlist -m normal hdisk<x>
Set "multi-boot" to "off" in the SMS application.