The Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence must be disabled on AlmaLinux OS 9.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | V-269141 | SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125 | ALMA-09-006730 | SV-269141r1101851_rule | 2026-02-27 | 1 |
Description
A locally logged-on user who presses Ctrl-Alt-Delete when at the console can reboot the system.
If accidentally pressed, as could happen in the case of a mixed OS environment, this can create the risk of short-term loss of availability of systems due to unintentional reboot.
In a graphical user environment, risk of unintentional reboot from the Ctrl-Alt-Delete sequence is reduced because the user will be prompted before any action is taken.
ℹ️ Check
Verify AlmaLinux OS 9 is not configured to reboot the system when Ctrl-Alt-Delete is pressed with the following command:
$ systemctl status ctrl-alt-del.target
ctrl-alt-del.target
Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit ctrl-alt-del.target is masked.)
Active: inactive (dead)
If the "ctrl-alt-del.target" is loaded and not masked, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to disable the ctrl-alt-del.target with the following command:
$ systemctl disable --now ctrl-alt-del.target
$ systemctl mask --now ctrl-alt-del.target