Vulnerability Discussion

Restricting access to the kernel message buffer limits access to only root. This prevents attackers from gaining additional system information as a nonprivileged user.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000132-GPOS-00067, SRG-OS-000138-GPOS-00069

Check

Verify AlmaLinux OS 9 is configured to restrict access to the kernel message buffer with the following commands:

Check the status of the kernel.dmesg_restrict kernel parameter.

$ sysctl kernel.dmesg_restrict

kernel.dmesg_restrict = 1

If "kernel.dmesg_restrict" is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding.

Check that the configuration files are present to enable this kernel parameter.

$ /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config | egrep -v '^(#|;)' | grep -F kernel.dmesg_restrict | tail -1

kernel.dmesg_restrict = 1

If "kernel.dmesg_restrict" is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to restrict access to the kernel message buffer with the following command:

$ echo "kernel.dmesg_restrict = 1 > /etc/sysctl.d/60-dmesg.conf"

Load settings from all system configuration files with the following command:

$ sysctl --system