The SUSE operating system must not forward Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) source-routed packets by default.

STIG ID: SLES-12-030362  |  SRG: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 |  Severity: medium |  CCI: CCI-000366 |  Vulnerability Id: V-237620

Vulnerability Discussion

Source-routed packets allow the source of the packet to suggest that routers forward the packet along a different path than configured on the router, which can be used to bypass network security measures. This requirement applies only to the forwarding of source-routed traffic, such as when IPv4 forwarding is enabled and the system is functioning as a router.

Check

Verify the SUSE operating system does not accept IPv6 source-routed packets by default.

Check the value of the default IPv6 accept source route variable with the following command:

> sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_source_route
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_source_route = 0

If the network parameter "ipv6.conf.default.accept_source_route" is not equal to "0" or nothing is returned, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the SUSE operating system to disable IPv6 default source routing by running the following command as an administrator:

> sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_source_route=0

If "0" is not the system's default value, add or update the following line in "/etc/sysctl.d/99-stig.conf":

> sudo sh -c 'echo "net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_source_route=0" >> /etc/sysctl.d/99-stig.conf'

> sudo sysctl --system