Vulnerability Discussion

Previous versions of software components that are not removed from the information system after updates have been installed may be exploited by adversaries. Some information technology products may remove older versions of software automatically from the information system.

Check

Verify the SUSE operating system removes all outdated software components after updated version have been installed by running the following command:

# grep -i upgraderemovedroppedpackages /etc/zypp/zypp.conf

solver.upgradeRemoveDroppedPackages = true

If "solver.upgradeRemoveDroppedPackages" is commented out, is set to "false", or is missing completely, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the SUSE operating system to remove all outdated software components after an update by editing the following line in "/etc/zypp/zypp.conf" to match the one provided below:

solver.upgradeRemoveDroppedPackages = true