The Photon operating system must not respond to IPv4 Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echoes sent to a broadcast address.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258887 | PHTN-40-000224 | SV-258887r933722_rule | CCI-000366 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Responding to broadcast (ICMP) echoes facilitates network mapping and provides a vector for amplification attacks. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2023-10-29 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258887r933722_chk)
At the command line, run the following command to verify ICMP echoes sent to a broadcast address are ignored:
# /sbin/sysctl net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
Example result:
net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1
If the "net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts" kernel parameter is not set to "1", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-62536r933721_fix)
Navigate to and open:
/etc/sysctl.d/zz-stig-hardening.conf
Add or update the following line:
net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1
At the command line, run the following command to load the new configuration:
# /sbin/sysctl --load /etc/sysctl.d/zz-stig-hardening.conf
Note: If the file zz-stig-hardening.conf does not exist, it must be created.