This is not the latest version of the STIG. This is provided for archival purposes. See the latest STIG.

RHEL 10 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution.

STIG ID: RHEL-10-701130  |  SRG: SRG-OS-000433-GPOS-00193 |  Severity: medium (CAT II)  |  CCI: CCI-002824 |  Vulnerability Id: V-281315

Vulnerability Discussion

ASLR makes it more difficult for an attacker to predict the location of attack code they have introduced into a process's address space during an attempt at exploitation. Additionally, ASLR makes it more difficult for an attacker to know the location of existing code to repurpose it using return-oriented programming techniques.

Check

Verify RHEL 10 is implementing ASLR.

Check the status of the "kernel.randomize_va_space" kernel parameter with the following command:

$ sudo sysctl kernel.randomize_va_space
kernel.randomize_va_space = 2

If "kernel.randomize_va_space" is not set to "2" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure RHEL 10 to implement ASLR.

Create the drop-in if it does not already exist:

$ sudo vi /etc/sysctl.d/99-kernel_randomize_va_space.conf

Add the following line to the file:

kernel.randomize_va_space = 2

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

$ sudo sysctl --system