Vulnerability Discussion

Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events. Sources outside the configured acceptable allowance (drift) may be inaccurate.

Organizations must consider endpoints that may not have regular access to the authoritative time server (e.g., mobile, teleworking, and tactical endpoints).

Check

Verify the "ntp" package is not installed with the following command:

$ dpkg -l | grep ntp

If the "ntp" package is installed, this is a finding.

Fix

Uninstall the "ntp" package using the following command:

$ sudo apt remove ntp

If there are additional configuration files on the system that must be removed, the following command can be used instead:

$ sudo apt-get purge ntp