Vulnerability Discussion

Misuse of the shutdown command may cause availability issues for the system.

Check

Verify Amazon Linux 2023 is configured to audit the execution of the "shutdown" command with the following command:

$ sudo auditctl -l | grep shutdown
-a always,exit -F path=/usr/sbin/shutdown -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k privileged-shutdown

If the command does not return a line, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure Amazon Linux 2023 so that the audit system generates an audit event for any successful/unsuccessful uses of the "shutdown" command by adding or updating the following rule in the "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules" file:

-a always,exit -F path=/usr/sbin/shutdown -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k privileged-shutdown

To load the rules to the kernel immediately, use the following command:

$ sudo augenrules --load