The echo daemon must be disabled on AIX.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-215391 | SRG-OS-000095-GPOS-00049 | AIX7-00-003086 | SV-215391r958478_rule | 2026-02-06 | 3 |
Description
The echo service can be used in Denial of Service or SMURF attacks. It can also be used by someone else to get through a firewall or start a data storm. The echo service is unnecessary and it increases the attack vector of the system.
ℹ️ Check
Check the /etc/inetd.conf for TCP and UDP echo service entries using command:
# grep echo /etc/inetd.conf | grep -v \#
If there is any output from the command, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
In "/etc/inetd.conf", comment out the "echo" entries by running commands:
# chsubserver -r inetd -C /etc/inetd.conf -d -v 'echo' -p 'tcp'
# chsubserver -r inetd -C /etc/inetd.conf -d -v 'echo' -p 'udp'
Restart inetd:
# refresh -s inetd