The SUSE operating system must not allow interfaces to accept Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) redirect messages by default.

STIG ID: SLES-12-030401  |  SRG: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | Severity: medium |  CCI: CCI-000366

Vulnerability Discussion

ICMP redirect messages are used by routers to inform hosts that a more direct route exists for a particular destination. These messages modify the host's route table and are unauthenticated. An illicit ICMP redirect message could result in a man-in-the-middle attack.

Check

Verify the SUSE operating system does not allow IPv6 ICMP redirect messages by default.

Check the value of the "default accept_redirects" variables with the following command:

# sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0

If the returned line does not have a value of "0", this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the SUSE operating system to not allow IPv6 ICMP redirect messages by default.

Set the system to the required kernel parameter by adding the following line to "/etc/sysctl.conf" (or modify the line to have the required value):

net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects=0

Run the following command to apply this value:

# sysctl –system