Vulnerability Discussion

Extended attributes in file systems are used to contain arbitrary data and file metadata with security implications.

Check

Verify that AIDE is configured to verify extended attributes with the following command:

$ grep xattrs /etc/aide.conf

All= p+i+n+u+g+s+m+S+sha512+acl+xattrs+selinux

If the "xattrs" rule is not being used on all uncommented selection lines in the "/etc/aide.conf" file, or extended attributes are not being checked by another file integrity tool, this is a finding.

If the "acl" rule is not being used on all uncommented selection lines in the "/etc/aide.conf" file, or ACLs are not being checked by another file integrity tool, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the file integrity tool to check file and directory extended attributes.

If AIDE is installed, ensure the "xattrs" rule is present on all uncommented file and directory selection lists.