Vulnerability Discussion

This requirement applies to wireless peripheral technologies (e.g., wireless mice, keyboards, displays, etc.) used with RHEL 9 systems. Wireless peripherals (e.g., Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/IR keyboards, mice and pointing devices, and near field communications [NFC]) present a unique challenge by creating an open, unsecured port on a computer. Wireless peripherals must meet DOD requirements for wireless data transmission and be approved for use by the Authorizing Official (AO). Even though some wireless peripherals, such as mice and pointing devices, do not ordinarily carry information that need to be protected, modification of communications with these wireless peripherals may be used to compromise the RHEL 9 operating system.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000299-GPOS-00117, SRG-OS-000300-GPOS-00118, SRG-OS-000424-GPOS-00188, SRG-OS-000481-GPOS-00481

Check

Verify there are no wireless interfaces configured on the system with the following command:

Note: This requirement is Not Applicable for systems that do not have physical wireless network radios.

$ nmcli device status

DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
virbr0 bridge connected virbr0
wlp7s0 wifi connected wifiSSID
enp6s0 ethernet disconnected --
p2p-dev-wlp7s0 wifi-p2p disconnected --
lo loopback unmanaged --
virbr0-nic tun unmanaged --

If a wireless interface is configured and has not been documented and approved by the information system security officer (ISSO), this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the system to disable all wireless network interfaces with the following command:

$ nmcli radio all off