RHEL 10 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution.

STIG ID: RHEL-10-701130  |  SRG: SRG-OS-000433-GPOS-00193 |  Severity: medium (CAT II)  |  CCI: CCI-002824 |  Vulnerability Id: V-281315

Vulnerability Discussion

ASLR makes it more difficult for an attacker to predict the location of attack code they have introduced into a process's address space during an attempt at exploitation. Additionally, ASLR makes it more difficult for an attacker to know the location of existing code to repurpose it using return-oriented programming techniques.

Check

Verify RHEL 10 is implementing ASLR.

Check the status of the "kernel.randomize_va_space" kernel parameter with the following command:

$ sudo sysctl kernel.randomize_va_space
kernel.randomize_va_space = 2

If "kernel.randomize_va_space" is not set to "2" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure RHEL 10 to implement ASLR.

Create the drop-in if it does not already exist:

$ sudo vi /etc/sysctl.d/99-kernel_randomize_va_space.conf

Add the following line to the file:

kernel.randomize_va_space = 2

Reload settings from all system configuration files with the following command:

$ sudo sysctl --system