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RHEL-09-212010 RHEL 9 must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes.

DISA STIG library V2R10
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to AC-3 via CCI-000213

Title

RHEL 9 must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes.

Control

Verify that RHEL 9 requires a password for the GRUB 2 bootloader to prevent unauthorized modifications to boot parameters. Check the unified configuration file where the GRUB 2 password is stored: # sudo grep -iw "GRUB2_PASSWORD" /boot/grub2/user.cfg GRUB2_PASSWORD=grub.pbkdf2.sha512.[password_hash] If the "GRUB2_PASSWORD" entry does not exist, is commented out, or if the hash does not begin with "grub.pbkdf2.sha512", this is a finding. Note for upgraded systems: If the system was upgraded from an early release of RHEL 8 to RHEL 9, legacy configurations might still reside in the EFI partition. If "/boot/grub2/user.cfg" does not exist, verify the legacy path: # grep -iw "GRUB2_PASSWORD" /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/user.cfg If the "GRUB2_PASSWORD" entry does not exist in either location, is commented out, or does not begin with "grub.pbkdf2.sha512", this is a finding.

Discussion

To mitigate the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information by entities that have been issued certificates by DoW-approved PKIs, all DoW systems (e.g., web servers and web portals) must be properly configured to incorporate access control methods that do not rely solely on the possession of a certificate for access. Successful authentication must not automatically give an entity access to an asset or security boundary. Authorization procedures and controls must be implemented to ensure each authenticated entity also has a validated and current authorization. Authorization is the process of determining whether an entity, once authenticated, is permitted to access a specific asset. Information systems use access control policies and enforcement mechanisms to implement this requirement. Password protection on the boot loader configuration ensures users with physical access cannot trivially alter important bootloader settings. These include which kernel to use, and whether to enter single-user mode.

Related controls

CCI-000213

Fix

Configure RHEL 9 to require a grub bootloader password for the grub superuser account. Generate an encrypted grub2 password for the grub superuser account with the following command: $ sudo grub2-setpassword Enter password: Confirm password: