RHEL 10 must not forward Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) source-routed packets.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-281342RHEL-10-800100SV-281342r1167176_ruleCCI-002385medium
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 IPv4 forwarding is enabled and the system is functioning as a router. Accepting source-routed packets in the IPv4 protocol has few legitimate uses. It must be disabled unless it is absolutely required. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000420-GPOS-00186, SRG-OS-000142-GPOS-00073
STIGDate
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide2026-03-11

Details

Check Text (C-281342r1167176_chk)

Verify RHEL 10 will not accept IPv4 source-routed packets. Check the value of the "net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route" variable with the following command: $ sudo sysctl net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0 If "net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route" is not set to "0" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-85808r1167175_fix)

Configure RHEL 10 to ignore IPv4 source-routed packets. Create a configuration file if it does not already exist: $ sudo vi /etc/sysctl.d/99-ipv4_accept_source.conf Add the following line to the file: net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0 Reload settings from all system configuration files with the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system