The x86 Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence must be disabled on RHEL 8.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-230529 | RHEL-08-040170 | SV-230529r1017289_rule | CCI-000366 | high |
| Description | ||||
| A locally logged-on user, who presses Ctrl-Alt-Delete when at the console, can reboot the system. If accidentally pressed, as could happen in the case of a mixed OS environment, this can create the risk of short-term loss of availability of systems due to unintentional reboot. In a graphical user environment, risk of unintentional reboot from the Ctrl-Alt-Delete sequence is reduced because the user will be prompted before any action is taken. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-230529r1017289_chk)
Verify RHEL 8 is not configured to reboot the system when Ctrl-Alt-Delete is pressed with the following command:
$ sudo systemctl status ctrl-alt-del.target
ctrl-alt-del.target
Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit ctrl-alt-del.target is masked.)
Active: inactive (dead)
If the "ctrl-alt-del.target" is loaded and not masked, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-33173r833337_fix)
Configure the system to disable the Ctrl-Alt-Delete sequence for the command line with the following commands:
$ sudo systemctl disable ctrl-alt-del.target
$ sudo systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/ctrl-alt-del.target -> /dev/null
Reload the daemon for this change to take effect.
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload