| V-279533 | high | Nutanix OS must implement DOD-approved encryption to protect the confidentiality of SSH sessions. | Without confidentiality protection mechanisms, unauthorized individuals may gain access to sensitive information via a remote access session.
Remote access is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Encryption provides a means to secure the remote connection to prevent unauthorized access to the data traversing the remote access connection (e.g., RDP), thereby providing a degree of confidentiality. The encryption strength of a mechanism is selected based on the security categorization of the information. |
| V-279534 | high | Nutanix OS must implement cryptography to protect the integrity of remote access sessions by using only HMACs employing FIPS 140-3-approved algorithms. | Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.
Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093, SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173, SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174, SRG-OS-000125-GPOS-00065 |
| V-279535 | high | Nutanix OS must implement cryptography to protect the integrity of remote access session by setting the systemwide policy to use FIPS mode. | Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.
Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093, SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173, SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174, SRG-OS-000396-GPOS-00176, SRG-OS-000478-GPOS-00223, SRG-OS-000423-GPOS-00187, SRG-OS-000424-GPOS-00188 |
| V-279536 | high | Nutanix OS must implement TLS to protect the integrity and confidentiality of remote access and nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions. | Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.
Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash. |
| V-279537 | high | Nutanix OS must implement cryptography to protect the integrity of remote access sessions. | Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.
Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash. |
| V-279538 | high | Nutanix OS must implement cryptography to protect the integrity and confidentiality of remote access and nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions. | Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.
Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093, SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173, SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174 |
| V-279574 | high | Nutanix OS must use cryptographic mechanisms to protect the integrity of audit tools. | Protecting the integrity of the tools used for auditing purposes is a critical step toward ensuring the integrity of audit information. Audit information includes all information (e.g., audit records, audit settings, and audit reports) needed to successfully audit information system activity.
Audit tools include, but are not limited to, vendor-provided and open source audit tools needed to successfully view and manipulate audit information system activity and records. Audit tools include custom queries and report generators.
It is not uncommon for attackers to replace the audit tools or inject code into the existing tools with the purpose of providing the capability to hide or erase system activity from the audit logs.
To address this risk, audit tools must be cryptographically signed to provide the capability to identify when the audit tools have been modified, manipulated, or replaced. An example is a checksum hash of the file(s). |
| V-279577 | high | Nutanix OS must prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. | Changes to any software components can have significant effects on the overall security of the operating system. This requirement ensures the software has not been tampered with and that it has been provided by a trusted vendor.
Accordingly, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components must be signed with a certificate recognized and approved by the organization.
Verifying the authenticity of the software prior to installation validates the integrity of the patch or upgrade received from a vendor. This ensures the software has not been tampered with and that it has been provided by a trusted vendor. Self-signed certificates are disallowed by this requirement. The operating system should not have to verify the software again. This requirement does not mandate DOD certificates for this purpose; however, the certificate used to verify the software must be from an approved certificate authority (CA). |
| V-279584 | high | Nutanix OS must not allow an unattended or automatic logon to the system. | Failure to restrict system access to authenticated users negatively impacts operating system security. |
| V-279604 | high | Nutanix OS must store only encrypted representations of passwords. | Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised. |
| V-279619 | high | Nutanix OS must implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the integrity of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic communications, when used for nonlocal maintenance sessions. | Privileged access contains control and configuration information and is particularly sensitive, so additional protections are necessary. This is maintained by using cryptographic mechanisms, such as a hash function or digital signature, to protect integrity.
Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities conducted by individuals communicating through a network, either an external network (e.g., the internet) or an internal network. Local maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities carried out by individuals physically present at the information system or information system component and not communicating across a network connection.
The operating system can meet this requirement through leveraging a cryptographic module. This requirement does not cover hardware/software components that may support information system maintenance, yet are a part of the system (e.g., the software implementing "ping," "ls," "ipconfig," or the hardware and software implementing the monitoring port of an Ethernet switch). |
| V-279620 | high | Nutanix OS must employ strong authenticators in the establishment of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions. | If maintenance tools are used by unauthorized personnel, they may accidentally or intentionally damage or compromise the system. The act of managing systems and applications includes the ability to access sensitive application information, such as system configuration details, diagnostic information, user information, and potentially sensitive application data.
Some maintenance and test tools are either standalone devices with their own operating systems or are applications bundled with an operating system.
Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities conducted by individuals communicating through a network, either an external network (e.g., the internet) or an internal network. Local maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities carried out by individuals physically present at the information system or information system component and not communicating across a network connection. Typically, strong authentication requires authenticators that are resistant to replay attacks and employ multifactor authentication. Strong authenticators include, for example, PKI where certificates are stored on a token protected by a password, passphrase, or biometric. |
| V-279621 | high | Nutanix OS must protect the confidentiality and integrity of all information at rest. | Information at rest refers to the state of information when it is located on a secondary storage device (e.g., disk drive and tape drive, when used for backups) within an operating system.
This requirement addresses protection of user-generated data, as well as operating system-specific configuration data. Organizations may choose to employ different mechanisms to achieve confidentiality and integrity protections, as appropriate, in accordance with the security category and/or classification of the information.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000185-GPOS-00079, SRG-OS-000404-GPOS-00183, SRG-OS-000405-GPOS-00184 |
| V-279627 | high | Nutanix OS must protect the confidentiality and integrity of communications with wireless peripherals. | Without protection of communications with wireless peripherals, confidentiality and integrity may be compromised because unprotected communications can be intercepted and either read, altered, or used to compromise the operating system.
This requirement applies to wireless peripheral technologies (e.g., wireless mice, keyboards, displays, etc.) used with an operating system. Wireless peripherals (e.g., Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/IR Keyboards, Mice, and Pointing Devices and Near Field Communications [NFC]) present a unique challenge by creating an open, unsecured port on a computer. Wireless peripherals must meet DOD requirements for wireless data transmission and be approved for use by the authorizing official (AO). Even though some wireless peripherals, such as mice and pointing devices, do not ordinarily carry information that needs to be protected, modification of communications with these wireless peripherals may be used to compromise the operating system. Communication paths outside the physical protection of a controlled boundary are exposed to the possibility of interception and modification.
Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of communications with wireless peripherals can be accomplished by physical means (e.g., employing physical barriers to wireless radio frequencies) or by logical means (e.g., employing cryptographic techniques). If physical means of protection are employed, then logical means (cryptography) do not have to be employed, and vice versa. If the wireless peripheral is only passing telemetry data, encryption of the data may not be required. |
| V-279686 | high | Nutanix AHV must store only encrypted representations of passwords. | Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised. |
| V-279527 | medium | Nutanix VMM must be configured to remove ypserv. | It is detrimental for VMMs to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
VMMs can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). |
| V-279529 | medium | Nutanix OS must set the value of "lock-after-time" to 890 seconds for remote access sessions. | A session time-out lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work and moves away from the immediate physical vicinity of the information system but does not log out because of the temporary nature of the absence. Rather than relying on the user to manually lock their operating system session prior to vacating the vicinity, operating systems must be able to identify when a user's session is idle and take action to initiate the session lock.
The session lock is implemented at the point where session activity can be determined and/or controlled.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000029-GPOS-00010, SRG-OS-000031-GPOS-00012, SRG-OS-000030-GPOS-00011, SRG-OS-000028-GPOS-00009 |
| V-279530 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure the ClientAliveInterval to "600" and ClientAliveCountMax to "1". | Automatic session termination addresses the termination of user-initiated logical sessions in contrast to the termination of network connections that are associated with communications sessions (i.e., network disconnect). A logical session (for local, network, and remote access) is initiated whenever a user (or process acting on behalf of a user) accesses an organizational information system. Such user sessions can be terminated (and thus terminate user access) without terminating network sessions.
Session termination terminates all processes associated with a user's logical session except those processes that are specifically created by the user (i.e., session owner) to continue after the session is terminated.
Conditions or trigger events requiring automatic session termination can include, for example, organization-defined periods of user inactivity, targeted responses to certain types of incidents, and time-of-day restrictions on information system use.
This capability is typically reserved for specific operating system functionality where the system owner, data owner, or organization requires additional assurance.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000279-GPOS-00109, SRG-OS-000163-GPOS-00072 |
| V-279531 | medium | Nutanix OS must monitor SSH access. | Remote access services, such as those providing remote access to network devices and information systems, which lack automated monitoring capabilities, increase risk and make remote user access management difficult at best.
Remote access is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Automated monitoring of remote access sessions allows organizations to detect cyberattacks and also ensure ongoing compliance with remote access policies by auditing connection activities of remote access capabilities, such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), on a variety of information system components (e.g., servers, workstations, notebook computers, smartphones, and tablets). |
| V-279532 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure the firewall to control remote access methods. | Remote access services, such as those providing remote access to network devices and information systems, which lack automated control capabilities, increase risk and make remote user access management difficult at best.
Remote access is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, nonorganization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless.
Operating system functionality (e.g., RDP) must be capable of taking enforcement action if the audit reveals unauthorized activity. Automated control of remote access sessions allows organizations to ensure ongoing compliance with remote access policies by enforcing connection rules of remote access applications on a variety of information system components (e.g., servers, workstations, notebook computers, smartphones, and tablets). |
| V-279539 | medium | Nutanix OS must automatically remove or disable temporary user accounts after 72 hours. | If temporary user accounts remain active when no longer needed or for an excessive period, these accounts may be used to gain unauthorized access. To mitigate this risk, automated termination of all temporary accounts must be set upon account creation.
Temporary accounts are established as part of normal account activation procedures when there is a need for short-term accounts without the demand for immediacy in account activation.
If temporary accounts are used, the operating system must be configured to automatically terminate these types of accounts after a DOD-defined time period of 72 hours.
To address access requirements, many operating systems may be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements. |
| V-279540 | medium | Nutanix OS must disable account identifiers (individuals, groups, roles, and devices) after 35 days of inactivity. | Inactive identifiers pose a risk to systems and applications because attackers may exploit an inactive identifier and potentially obtain undetected access to the system. Owners of inactive accounts will not notice if unauthorized access to their user account has been obtained.
Operating systems must track periods of inactivity and disable application identifiers after 35 days of inactivity. |
| V-279541 | medium | Nutanix OS must audit all account change actions. | Once an attacker establishes access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to create an account. Auditing account creation actions provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes.
To address access requirements, many operating systems may be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access/auditing mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000004-GPOS-00004, SRG-OS-000239-GPOS-00089, SRG-OS-000240-GPOS-00090, SRG-OS-000241-GPOS-00091, SRG-OS-000303-GPOS-00120, SRG-OS-000001-GPOS-00001 |
| V-279542 | medium | Nutanix VMM must encrypt the boot password for root. | To mitigate the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information by entities that have been issued certificates by DOD-approved PKIs, all DOD 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.
Access control policies include identity-based policies, role-based policies, and attribute-based policies. Access enforcement mechanisms include access control lists, access control matrices, and cryptography. These policies and mechanisms must be employed by the application to control access between users (or processes acting on behalf of users) and objects (e.g., devices, files, records, processes, programs, and domains) in the information system. |
| V-279543 | medium | Nutanix OS must enable kernel parameters to enforce Discretionary Access Control (DAC) on hardlinks. | DAC is based on the notion that individual users are "owners" of objects and therefore have discretion over who should be authorized to access the object and in which mode (e.g., read or write). Ownership is usually acquired as a consequence of creating the object or via specified ownership assignment. DAC allows the owner to determine who will have access to objects they control. An example of DAC includes user-controlled file permissions.
When discretionary access control policies are implemented, subjects are not constrained regarding what actions they can take with information for which they have already been granted access. Thus, subjects that have been granted access to information are not prevented from passing (i.e., the subjects have the discretion to pass) the information to other subjects or objects. A subject that is constrained in its operation by Mandatory Access Control (MAC) policies is still able to operate under the less rigorous constraints of this requirement. Thus, while MAC imposes constraints preventing a subject from passing information to another subject operating at a different sensitivity level, this requirement permits the subject to pass the information to any subject at the same sensitivity level. The policy is bound by the information system boundary. Once the information is passed outside the control of the information system, additional means may be required to ensure the constraints remain in effect. While the older, more traditional definitions of DAC require identity-based access control, that limitation is not required for this use of DAC.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00122, SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125 |
| V-279544 | medium | Nutanix OS must enable kernel parameters to enforce discretionary access control on symlinks. | Discretionary Access Control (DAC) is based on the notion that individual users are "owners" of objects and therefore have discretion over who should be authorized to access the object and in which mode (e.g., read or write). Ownership is usually acquired as a consequence of creating the object or via specified ownership assignment. DAC allows the owner to determine who will have access to objects they control. An example of DAC includes user-controlled file permissions.
When DAC policies are implemented, subjects are not constrained regarding what actions they can take with information for which they have already been granted access. Thus, subjects that have been granted access to information are not prevented from passing (i.e., the subjects have the discretion to pass) the information to other subjects or objects. A subject that is constrained in its operation by Mandatory Access Control (MAC) policies is still able to operate under the less rigorous constraints of this requirement. Thus, while MAC imposes constraints preventing a subject from passing information to another subject operating at a different sensitivity level, this requirement permits the subject to pass the information to any subject at the same sensitivity level. The policy is bound by the information system boundary. Once the information is passed outside the control of the information system, additional means may be required to ensure the constraints remain in effect. While the older, more traditional definitions of DAC require identity-based access control, that limitation is not required for this use of DAC.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00123, SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00124, SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125 |
| V-279545 | medium | Nutanix OS must audit the execution of privileged functions. | Misusing privileged functions, either intentionally or unintentionally by authorized users, or by unauthorized external entities that have compromised information system accounts, is a serious and ongoing concern and can have significant adverse impacts on organizations. Auditing the use of privileged functions is one way to detect such misuse and identify the risk from insider threats and the advanced persistent threat.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000327-GPOS-00127, SRG-OS-000326-GPOS-00126 |
| V-279546 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts by a user during a 15-minute time period. | By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005, SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128 |
| V-279547 | medium | Nutanix OS must display the Standard Mandatory DOD Notice and Consent Banner for SSH access. | Display of a standardized and approved use notification before granting access to the operating system ensures privacy and security notification verbiage used is consistent with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, standards, and guidance.
The banner must be formatted in accordance with applicable DOD policy. Use the following verbiage for operating systems that can accommodate banners of 1300 characters:
"You are accessing a U.S. Government (USG) Information System (IS) that is provided for USG-authorized use only.
By using this IS (which includes any device attached to this IS), you consent to the following conditions:
-The USG routinely intercepts and monitors communications on this IS for purposes including, but not limited to, penetration testing, COMSEC monitoring, network operations and defense, personnel misconduct (PM), law enforcement (LE), and counterintelligence (CI) investigations.
-At any time, the USG may inspect and seize data stored on this IS.
-Communications using, or data stored on, this IS are not private, are subject to routine monitoring, interception, and search, and may be disclosed or used for any USG-authorized purpose.
-This IS includes security measures (e.g., authentication and access controls) to protect USG interests--not for your personal benefit or privacy.
-Notwithstanding the above, using this IS does not constitute consent to PM, LE or CI investigative searching or monitoring of the content of privileged communications, or work product, related to personal representation or services by attorneys, psychotherapists, or clergy, and their assistants. Such communications and work product are private and confidential. See User Agreement for details."
Use the following verbiage for operating systems that have severe limitations on the number of characters that can be displayed in the banner:
"I've read & consent to terms in IS user agreem't." |
| V-279549 | medium | Nutanix OS must provide audit record generation capability for DOD-defined auditable events for account changes. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are to be generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00020, SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00021 |
| V-279550 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure /etc/audit/audit.rules to generate audit records for account access actions. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are to be generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions. |
| V-279551 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure /etc/audit/audit.rules to generate audit records for account deletion actions. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are to be generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203 |
| V-279552 | medium | Nutanix OS must provide audit record generation for successful and unsuccessful uses of the init_module and finit_module system calls. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions. |
| V-279553 | medium | Nutanix OS must provide audit record generation for successful and unsuccessful attempts to move, remove, or delete files and directories. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000466-GPOS-00210, SRG-OS-000467-GPOS-00211, SRG-OS-000468-GPOS-00212, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219 |
| V-279554 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records when successful/unsuccessful attempts to access security objects occur. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000461-GPOS-00205 |
| V-279555 | medium | Nutanix OS must provide audit record generation capability for all account actions. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000471-GPOS-00215, SRG-OS-000462-GPOS-00206 |
| V-279556 | medium | Nutanix OS must provide audit record generation capability for DOD-defined auditable events for all kernel module load, unload, and restart actions. | Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are generated. This set of events is typically a subset of the list of all events for which the system can generate audit records.
DOD has defined the list of events for which the operating system will provide an audit record generation capability as the following:
1) Successful and unsuccessful attempts to access, modify, or delete privileges, security objects, security levels, or categories of information (e.g., classification levels);
2) Access actions, such as successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, privileged activities or other system-level access, starting and ending time for user access to the system, concurrent logons from different workstations, successful and unsuccessful accesses to objects, all program initiations, and all direct access to the information system;
3) All account creations, modifications, disabling, and terminations; and
4) All kernel module load, unload, and restart actions. |
| V-279557 | medium | Nutanix OS must allow only the information system security manager (ISSM) (or individuals or roles appointed by the ISSM) to select which auditable events are to be audited. | Without the capability to restrict which roles and individuals can select which events are audited, unauthorized personnel may be able to prevent the auditing of critical events. Misconfigured audits may degrade the system's performance by overwhelming the audit log. Misconfigured audits may also make it more difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. |
| V-279558 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records when successful/unsuccessful attempts to modify security objects and categories of information (e.g., classification levels) occur. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000463-GPOS-00207, SRG-OS-000465-GPOS-00209 |
| V-279559 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records when successful/unsuccessful logon attempts occur. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). |
| V-279560 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records for privileged activities or other system-level access. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). |
| V-279561 | medium | The audit system must be configured to audit the loading and unloading of dynamic kernel modules. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). |
| V-279562 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records when concurrent logons to the same account occur from different sources. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). |
| V-279563 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records for all account creations, modifications, disabling, and termination events. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). |
| V-279564 | medium | Nutanix OS must generate audit records for all kernel module load, unload, and restart actions, and also for all program initiations. | Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.
Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). |
| V-279565 | medium | Nutanix OS must have the audit.x86_64 package installed. | If auditing is enabled late in the start-up process, the actions of some start-up processes may not be audited. Some audit systems also maintain state information only available if auditing is enabled before a given process is created.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000254-GPOS-00095, SRG-OS-000255-GPOS-00096, SRG-OS-000051-GPOS-00024, SRG-OS-000054-GPOS-00025, SRG-OS-000122-GPOS-00063, SRG-OS-000358-GPOS-00145, SRG-OS-000446-GPOS-00200, SRG-OS-000447-GPOS-00201, SRG-OS-000348-GPOS-00136, SRG-OS-000349-GPOS-00137, SRG-OS-000350-GPOS-00138, SRG-OS-000351-GPOS-00139, SRG-OS-000352-GPOS-00140, SRG-OS-000353-GPOS-00141, SRG-OS-000354-GPOS-00142, SRG-OS-000358-GPOS-00145, SRG-OS-000365-GPOS-00152 |
| V-279569 | medium | Nutanix OS must alert the information system security officer (ISSO) and system administrator (SA) (at a minimum) in the event of an audit processing failure. | It is critical for the appropriate personnel to be aware if a system is at risk of failing to process audit logs as required. Without this notification, the security personnel may be unaware of an impending failure of the audit capability, and system operation may be adversely affected.
Audit processing failures include software/hardware errors, failures in the audit capturing mechanisms, and audit storage capacity being reached or exceeded.
This requirement applies to each audit data storage repository (i.e., distinct information system component where audit records are stored), the centralized audit storage capacity of organizations (i.e., all audit data storage repositories combined), or both. |
| V-279570 | medium | Nutanix AHV must disable network management of the chrony daemon. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services provided may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279571 | medium | Nutanix AHV must disable the chrony daemon from acting like a server. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services provided may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279572 | medium | Nutanix AHV must disable the use or cramfs kernel module. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services provided may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279575 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure audit log permissions for 0600 or less. | Unauthorized disclosure of audit records can reveal system and configuration data to attackers, thus compromising its confidentiality.
Audit information includes all information (e.g., audit records, audit settings, audit reports) needed to successfully audit operating system activity.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027, SRG-OS-000058-GPOS-00028, SRG-OS-000059-GPOS-00029 |
| V-279576 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure the audit log files to be owned by root. | Protecting audit information also includes identifying and protecting the tools used to view and manipulate log data. Therefore, protecting audit tools is necessary to prevent unauthorized operation on audit information.
Operating systems providing tools to interface with audit information will leverage user permissions and roles identifying the user accessing the tools and the corresponding rights the user enjoys to make access decisions regarding the access to audit tools.
Audit tools include, but are not limited to, vendor-provided and open-source audit tools needed to successfully view and manipulate audit information system activity and records. Audit tools include custom queries and report generators.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000256-GPOS-00097, SRG-OS-000258-GPOS-00099, SRG-OS-000257-GPOS-00098, SRG-OS-000206-GPOS-00084 |
| V-279578 | medium | Nutanix OS must prevent SSH from permitting Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSSAPI) authentication. | Failure to provide logical access restrictions associated with changes to system configuration may have significant effects on the overall security of the system.
When dealing with access restrictions pertaining to change control, it should be noted that any changes to the hardware, software, and/or firmware components of the operating system can have significant effects on the overall security of the system.
Accordingly, only qualified and authorized individuals should be allowed to obtain access to operating system components for the purposes of initiating changes, including upgrades and modifications.
Logical access restrictions include, for example, controls that restrict access to workflow automation, media libraries, abstract layers (e.g., changes implemented into third-party interfaces rather than directly into information systems), and change windows (e.g., changes occur only during specified times, making unauthorized changes easy to discover). |
| V-279579 | medium | Nutanix AHV must not be configured to allow Kerberos authentication. | Failure to provide logical access restrictions associated with changes to system configuration may have significant effects on the overall security of the system.
When dealing with access restrictions pertaining to change control, it should be noted that any changes to the hardware, software, and/or firmware components of the operating system can have significant effects on the overall security of the system.
Accordingly, only qualified and authorized individuals should be allowed to obtain access to operating system components for the purposes of initiating changes, including upgrades and modifications.
Logical access restrictions include, for example, controls that restrict access to workflow automation, media libraries, abstract layers (e.g., changes implemented into third-party interfaces rather than directly into information systems), and change windows (e.g., changes occur only during specified times, making unauthorized changes easy to discover). |
| V-279580 | medium | Nutanix OS must prevent using dictionary words for passwords. | If the operating system allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, then this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks. |
| V-279581 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce a delay of at least four seconds between logon prompts following a failed logon attempt. | Limiting the number of logon attempts over a certain time interval reduces the chances that an unauthorized user may gain access to an account. |
| V-279582 | medium | Nutanix OS must set the SCMA framework to check the baseline daily. | Configuring the operating system to implement organizationwide security implementation guides and security checklists ensures compliance with federal standards and establishes a common security baseline across DOD that reflects the most restrictive security posture consistent with operational requirements.
Configuration settings are the set of parameters that can be changed in hardware, software, or firmware components of the system that affect the security posture and/or functionality of the system. Security-related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the system, including the parameters required to satisfy other security control requirements. Security-related parameters include registry settings; account, file, and directory permission settings; and settings for functions, ports, protocols, services, and remote connections. |
| V-279583 | medium | Nutanix OS must define default permissions for all authenticated users so the user can only read and modify their own files. | Setting the most restrictive default permissions ensures that when new accounts are created they do not have unnecessary access. |
| V-279585 | medium | Nutanix OS must limit the ability of nonprivileged users to grant other users direct access to the contents of their home directories/folders. | Users' home directories/folders may contain information of a sensitive nature. Nonprivileged users should coordinate any sharing of information with a system administrator (SA) through shared resources. |
| V-279586 | medium | Nutanix OS must enable an application firewall. | Firewalls protect computers from network attacks by blocking or limiting access to open network ports. Application firewalls limit which applications are allowed to communicate over the network.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00232, SRG-OS-000368-GPOS-00154, SRG-OS-000370-GPOS-00155 |
| V-279587 | medium | Nutanix OS must mount /dev/shm with secure options. | Control of program execution is a mechanism used to prevent execution of unauthorized programs. Some operating systems may provide a capability that runs counter to the mission or provides users with functionality that exceeds mission requirements. This includes functions and services installed at the operating system level.
Some of the programs, installed by default, may be harmful or may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Removal of executable programs is not always possible; therefore, establishing a method of preventing program execution is critical to maintaining a secure system baseline.
Methods for complying with this requirement include restricting program execution in certain environments, while preventing execution in other environments; or limiting execution of certain program functionality based on organization-defined criteria (e.g., privileges, subnets, sandboxed environments, or roles). |
| V-279588 | medium | Nutanix OS must mount /tmp with secure options. | Controlling program execution is a mechanism used to prevent execution of unauthorized programs. Some operating systems may provide a capability that runs counter to the mission or provides users with functionality that exceeds mission requirements. This includes functions and services installed at the operating system level.
Some of the programs, installed by default, may be harmful or may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Removing executable programs is not always possible; therefore, establishing a method of preventing program execution is critical to maintaining a secure system baseline.
Methods for complying with this requirement include restricting program execution in certain environments, while preventing execution in other environments; or limiting execution of certain program functionality based on organization-defined criteria (e.g., privileges, subnets, sandboxed environments, or roles). |
| V-279589 | medium | Nutanix OS must mount /var/log/audit with secure options. | Controlling program execution is a mechanism used to prevent execution of unauthorized programs. Some operating systems may provide a capability that runs counter to the mission or provides users with functionality that exceeds mission requirements. This includes functions and services installed at the operating system level.
Some of the programs, installed by default, may be harmful or may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Removal of executable programs is not always possible; therefore, establishing a method of preventing program execution is critical to maintaining a secure system baseline.
Methods for complying with this requirement include restricting program execution in certain environments, while preventing execution in other environments; or limiting execution of certain program functionality based on organization-defined criteria (e.g., privileges, subnets, sandboxed environments, or roles). |
| V-279590 | medium | Nutanix OS must mount /var/tmp with secure options. | Controlling program execution is a mechanism used to prevent execution of unauthorized programs. Some operating systems may provide a capability that runs counter to the mission or provides users with functionality that exceeds mission requirements. This includes functions and services installed at the operating system level.
Some of the programs, installed by default, may be harmful or may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Removal of executable programs is not always possible; therefore, establishing a method of preventing program execution is critical to maintaining a secure system baseline.
Methods for complying with this requirement include restricting program execution in certain environments, while preventing execution in other environments; or limiting execution of certain program functionality based on organization-defined criteria (e.g., privileges, subnets, sandboxed environments, or roles). |
| V-279591 | medium | Nutanix OS must mount /var/log with secure options. | Controlling program execution is a mechanism used to prevent execution of unauthorized programs. Some operating systems may provide a capability that runs counter to the mission or provides users with functionality that exceeds mission requirements. This includes functions and services installed at the operating system level.
Some of the programs, installed by default, may be harmful or may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Removal of executable programs is not always possible; therefore, establishing a method of preventing program execution is critical to maintaining a secure system baseline.
Methods for complying with this requirement include restricting program execution in certain environments, while preventing execution in other environments; or limiting execution of certain program functionality based on organization-defined criteria (e.g., privileges, subnets, sandboxed environments, or roles). |
| V-279592 | medium | Nutanix OS must have the fapolicyd.service installed and active. | Control of program execution is a mechanism used to prevent execution of unauthorized programs. Some operating systems may provide a capability that runs counter to the mission or provides users with functionality that exceeds mission requirements. This includes functions and services installed at the operating system level.
Some of the programs, installed by default, may be harmful or may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Removal of executable programs is not always possible; therefore, establishing a method of preventing program execution is critical to maintaining a secure system baseline.
Methods for complying with this requirement include restricting execution of programs in certain environments, while preventing execution in other environments; or limiting execution of certain program functionality based on organization-defined criteria (e.g., privileges, subnets, sandboxed environments, or roles). |
| V-279593 | medium | Nutanix OS must be configured to remove rsh-server. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279594 | medium | Nutanix OS must be configured to remove telnet-server. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279595 | medium | Nutanix OS must be configured to remove abrt. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279596 | medium | Nutanix OS must be configured to remove sendmail. | It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions).
Examples of nonessential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but which cannot be disabled. |
| V-279597 | medium | Nutanix OS must be configured to prohibit or restrict using functions, ports, protocols, and/or services, as defined in the Ports, Protocols, and Services Management (PPSM) Category Assurance List (CAL) and vulnerability assessments. | To prevent unauthorized device connection, unauthorized information transfer, or unauthorized tunneling (i.e., embedding of data types within data types), organizations must disable or restrict unused or unnecessary physical and logical ports/protocols on information systems.
Operating systems can provide a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services provided by default may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations. Additionally, it is sometimes convenient to provide multiple services from a single component (e.g., VPN and IPS); however, doing so increases risk over limiting the services provided by any one component.
To support the requirements and principles of least functionality, the operating system must support the organizational requirements, providing only essential capabilities and limiting the use of ports, protocols, and/or services to only those required, authorized, and approved to conduct official business or to address authorized quality of life issues. |
| V-279598 | medium | Nutanix OS must require users to reauthenticate for privilege escalation. | Without reauthentication, users may access resources or perform tasks for which they do not have authorization.
When operating systems provide the capability to escalate a functional capability, it is critical that the user reauthenticate. |
| V-279599 | medium | Nutanix OS must require users to reauthenticate for privilege escalation. | Without reauthentication, users may access resources or perform tasks for which they do not have authorization.
When operating systems provide the capability to change security roles, it is critical that the user reauthenticate. |
| V-279600 | medium | Nutanix OS must uniquely identify and authenticate organizational users (or processes acting on behalf of organizational users). | To ensure accountability and prevent unauthenticated access, organizational users must be identified and authenticated to prevent potential misuse and compromise of the system.
Organizational users include organizational employees or individuals the organization deems to have equivalent status of employees (e.g., contractors). Organizational users (and processes acting on behalf of users) must be uniquely identified and authenticated to all accesses, except for the following:
1) Accesses explicitly identified and documented by the organization. Organizations document specific user actions that can be performed on the information system without identification or authentication; and
2) Accesses that occur through authorized use of group authenticators without individual authentication. Organizations may require unique identification of individuals in group accounts (e.g., shared privilege accounts) or for detailed accountability of individual activity. |
| V-279601 | medium | Nutanix OS must not install autofs.service. | Without identifying devices, unidentified or unknown devices may be introduced, thereby facilitating malicious activity.
Peripherals include, but are not limited to, such devices as flash drives, external storage, and printers. |
| V-279602 | medium | Nutanix OS must disable the ability to use USB mass storage devices. | Without identifying devices, unidentified or unknown devices may be introduced, thereby facilitating malicious activity.
Peripherals include, but are not limited to, flash drives, external storage, and printers. |
| V-279603 | medium | Nutanix VMM must, for password-based authentication, verify that when users create or update passwords, the passwords are not found on the list of commonly used, expected, or compromised passwords. | Password-based authentication applies to passwords regardless of whether they are used in single-factor or multifactor authentication. Long passwords or passphrases are preferable over shorter passwords. Enforced composition rules provide marginal security benefits while decreasing usability. However, organizations may choose to establish certain rules for password generation (e.g., minimum character length for long passwords) under certain circumstances and can enforce this requirement in IA-5(1)(h). Account recovery can occur, for example, in situations when a password is forgotten. Cryptographically protected passwords include salted one-way cryptographic hashes of passwords. The list of commonly used, compromised, or expected passwords includes passwords obtained from previous breach corpuses, dictionary words, and repetitive or sequential characters. The list includes context-specific words, such as the name of the service, username, and derivatives thereof. |
| V-279605 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one uppercase character be used. | Using a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.
Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password is, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. |
| V-279606 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce password complexity by requiring at least one lowercase character be used. | Using a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.
Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. |
| V-279607 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one numeric character be used. | Using a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.
Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. |
| V-279608 | medium | Nutanix OS must require the change of at least 50 percent of the total number of characters when passwords are changed. | If the operating system allows the user to consecutively reuse extensive portions of passwords, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the window of opportunity for attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.
The number of changed characters refers to the number of changes required with respect to the total number of positions in the current password. In other words, characters may be the same within the two passwords; however, the positions of the like characters must be different.
If the password length is an odd number then number of changed characters must be rounded up. For example, a password length of 15 characters must require the change of at least eight characters. |
| V-279609 | medium | Operating systems must enforce 24 hours/1 day as the minimum password lifetime. | Enforcing a minimum password lifetime helps to prevent repeated password changes to defeat the password reuse or history enforcement requirement. If users are allowed to immediately and continually change their password, then the password could be repeatedly changed in a short period of time to defeat the organization's policy regarding password reuse. |
| V-279610 | medium | Operating systems must enforce a 60-day maximum password lifetime restriction. | Any password, no matter how complex, can eventually be cracked; therefore, passwords need to be changed periodically. If the operating system does not limit the lifetime of passwords and force users to change their passwords, there is the risk that the operating system passwords could be compromised. |
| V-279611 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce a minimum 15-character password length. | The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.
Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Using more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. |
| V-279612 | medium | Nutanix OS must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. | Using a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity or strength is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.
Password complexity is one factor in determining how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.
Special characters are those characters that are not alphanumeric. Examples include: ~ ! @ # $ % ^ *. |
| V-279613 | medium | Nutanix OS must configure pam_uni.so module to use SHA-512 for authentication to a cryptographic module. | Unapproved mechanisms that are used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and therefore cannot be relied upon to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DOD data may be compromised.
Operating systems using encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules.
FIPS 140-3 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules utilize authentication that meets DOD requirements. This allows for Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on a general purpose computing system. |
| V-279614 | medium | Nutanix OS must audit all activities performed during nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions. | If events associated with nonlocal administrative access or diagnostic sessions are not logged, a major tool for assessing and investigating attacks would not be available.
This requirement addresses auditing-related issues associated with maintenance tools used specifically for diagnostic and repair actions on organizational information systems.
Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities conducted by individuals communicating through a network, either an external network (e.g., the internet) or an internal network. Local maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities carried out by individuals physically present at the information system or information system component and not communicating across a network connection.
This requirement applies to hardware/software diagnostic test equipment or tools. This requirement does not cover hardware/software components that may support information system maintenance, yet are a part of the system, for example, the software implementing "ping," "ls," "ipconfig," or the hardware and software implementing the monitoring port of an Ethernet switch. |
| V-279622 | medium | Nutanix OS must provide protected storage for cryptographic keys with organization-defined safeguards and/or hardware protected key store. | A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is an example of a hardware-protected data store that can be used to protect cryptographic keys. |
| V-279623 | medium | Nutanix OS must isolate security functions from nonsecurity functions. | An isolation boundary provides access control and protects the integrity of the hardware, software, and firmware that perform security functions.
Security functions are the hardware, software, and/or firmware of the information system responsible for enforcing the system security policy and supporting the isolation of code and data on which the protection is based. Operating systems implement code separation (i.e., separation of security functions from nonsecurity functions) in a number of ways, including through the provision of security kernels via processor rings or processor modes. For nonkernel code, security function isolation is often achieved through file system protections that serve to protect the code on disk and address space protections that protect executing code.
Developers and implementers can increase the assurance in security functions by employing well-defined security policy models; structured, disciplined, and rigorous hardware and software development techniques; and sound system/security engineering principles. Implementation may include isolation of memory space and libraries. Operating systems restrict access to security functions using access control mechanisms and by implementing least privilege capabilities.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000134-GPOS-00068, SRG-OS-000445-GPOS-00199 |
| V-279624 | medium | Operating systems must prevent unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources. | Preventing unauthorized information transfers mitigates the risk of information, including encrypted representations of information, produced by the actions of prior users/roles (or the actions of processes acting on behalf of prior users/roles) from being available to any current users/roles (or current processes) that obtain access to shared system resources (e.g., registers, main memory, hard disks) after those resources have been released back to information systems. The control of information in shared resources is also commonly referred to as object reuse and residual information protection.
This requirement generally applies to the design of an information technology product, but it can also apply to the configuration of particular information system components that are, or use, such products. This can be verified by acceptance/validation processes in DOD or other government agencies.
There may be shared resources with configurable protections (e.g., files in storage) that may be assessed on specific information system components. |
| V-279625 | medium | Nutanix OS must manage excess capacity, bandwidth, or other redundancy to limit the effects of information flooding types of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. | DoS is a condition when a resource is not available for legitimate users. When this occurs, the organization either cannot accomplish its mission or must operate at degraded capacity.
Managing excess capacity ensures that sufficient capacity is available to counter flooding attacks. Employing increased capacity and service redundancy may reduce the susceptibility to some DoS attacks. Managing excess capacity may include, for example, establishing selected usage priorities, quotas, or partitioning. |
| V-279626 | medium | Nutanix OS must protect against or limit the effects of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks by ensuring the operating system is implementing rate-limiting measures on impacted network interfaces. | DoS is a condition when a resource is not available for legitimate users. When this occurs, the organization either cannot accomplish its mission or must operate at degraded capacity.
This requirement addresses the configuration of the operating system to mitigate the impact of DoS attacks that have occurred or are ongoing on system availability. For each system, known and potential DoS attacks must be identified and solutions for each type implemented. A variety of technologies exist to limit or, in some cases, eliminate the effects of DoS attacks (e.g., limiting processes or establishing memory partitions). Employing increased capacity and bandwidth, combined with service redundancy, may reduce the susceptibility to some DoS attacks. |
| V-279628 | medium | Nutanix OS must install and use SSH for remote access. | Information can be either unintentionally or maliciously disclosed or modified during preparation for transmission, for example, during aggregation, at protocol transformation points, and during packing/unpacking. These unauthorized disclosures or modifications compromise the confidentiality or integrity of the information.
Ensuring the confidentiality of transmitted information requires the operating system to take measures in preparing information for transmission. This can be accomplished via access control and encryption.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000425-GPOS-00189, SRG-OS-000074-GPOS-00042, SRG-OS-000425-GPOS-00189, SRG-OS-000113-GPOS-00058, SRG-OS-000426-GPOS-00190, SRG-OS-000112-GPOS-00057 |
| V-279629 | medium | Nutanix OS must restrict the message log access permissions to reveal error messages only to authorized users. | Only authorized personnel should be aware of errors and the details of the errors. Error messages are an indicator of an organization's operational state or can identify the operating system or platform. Additionally, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and operational information must not be revealed through error messages to unauthorized personnel or their designated representatives.
The structure and content of error messages must be carefully considered by the organization and development team. The extent to which the information system is able to identify and handle error conditions is guided by organizational policy and operational requirements. |
| V-279630 | medium | Nutanix OS must restrict the /var/log directory access permissions to reveal error messages only to authorized users. | Only authorized personnel should be aware of errors and the details of the errors. Error messages are an indicator of an organization's operational state or can identify the operating system or platform. Additionally, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and operational information must not be revealed through error messages to unauthorized personnel or their designated representatives.
The structure and content of error messages must be carefully considered by the organization and development team. The extent to which the information system is able to identify and handle error conditions is guided by organizational policy and operational requirements. |
| V-279631 | medium | Nutanix OS must implement nonexecutable data to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. | Some adversaries launch attacks with the intent of executing code in nonexecutable regions of memory or in memory locations that are prohibited. Security safeguards employed to protect memory include, for example, data execution prevention and address space layout randomization. Data execution prevention safeguards can either be hardware-enforced or software-enforced with hardware providing the greater strength of mechanism.
Examples of attacks are buffer overflow attacks. |
| V-279632 | medium | Nutanix OS must implement address space layout randomization to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. | Some adversaries launch attacks with the intent of executing code in nonexecutable regions of memory or in memory locations that are prohibited. Security safeguards employed to protect memory include, for example, data execution prevention and address space layout randomization. Data execution prevention safeguards can either be hardware-enforced or software-enforced with hardware providing the greater strength of mechanism.
Examples of attacks are buffer overflow attacks. |
| V-279633 | medium | Nutanix OS must remove all software components after updated versions have been installed. | Previous versions of software components that are not removed from the information system after updates have been installed may be exploited by adversaries. Some information technology products may remove older versions of software automatically from the information system. |
| V-279667 | medium | Nutanix AHV must generate error messages that provide information necessary for corrective actions without revealing information that could be exploited by adversaries. | Any operating system providing too much information in error messages risks compromising the data and security of the structure, and content of error messages needs to be carefully considered by the organization.
Organizations carefully consider the structure/content of error messages. The extent to which information systems are able to identify and handle error conditions is guided by organizational policy and operational requirements. Information that could be exploited by adversaries includes, for example, erroneous logon attempts with passwords entered by mistake such as the username, mission/business information that can be derived from (if not stated explicitly by) information recorded, and personal information, such as account numbers, social security numbers, and credit card numbers. |
| V-279685 | medium | Nutanix AHV must protect against or limit the effects of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks by ensuring the operating system is implementing rate-limiting measures on impacted network interfaces. | DoS is a condition when a resource is not available for legitimate users. When this occurs, the organization either cannot accomplish its mission or must operate at degraded capacity.
This requirement addresses the configuration of the operating system to mitigate the impact of DoS attacks that have occurred or are ongoing on system availability. For each system, known and potential DoS attacks must be identified and solutions for each type implemented. A variety of technologies exist to limit or, in some cases, eliminate the effects of DoS attacks (e.g., limiting processes or establishing memory partitions). Employing increased capacity and bandwidth, combined with service redundancy, may reduce the susceptibility to some DoS attacks. |
| V-279528 | low | Nutanix OS must limit the number of concurrent sessions to 10 for all accounts and/or account types. | Operating system management includes the ability to control the number of users and user sessions that utilize an operating system. Limiting the number of allowed users and sessions per user is helpful in reducing the risks related to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
This requirement addresses concurrent sessions for information system accounts and does not address concurrent sessions by single users via multiple system accounts. The maximum number of concurrent sessions should be defined based upon mission needs and the operational environment for each system. |
| V-279548 | low | Nutanix OS must display the Standard Mandatory DOD Notice and Consent Banner until users acknowledge the usage conditions and take explicit actions to log on for further access. | The banner must be acknowledged by the user prior to allowing the user access to the operating system. This provides assurance that the user has seen the message and accepted the conditions for access. If the consent banner is not acknowledged by the user, DOD will not be in compliance with system use notifications required by law.
To establish acceptance of the application usage policy, a click-through banner at system logon is required. The system must prevent further activity until the user executes a positive action to manifest agreement by clicking on a box indicating "OK".
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000024-GPOS-00007, SRG-OS-000023-GPOS-00006, SRG-OS-000024-GPOS-00007 |
| V-279566 | low | Nutanix OS must allocate audit record storage capacity to store at least one week's worth of audit records, when audit records are not immediately sent to a central audit record storage facility. | To ensure operating systems have a sufficient storage capacity in which to write the audit logs, operating systems must be able to allocate audit record storage capacity.
The task of allocating audit record storage capacity is usually performed during initial installation of the operating system. |
| V-279567 | low | Nutanix OS must be configured to send audit records to a site-specific remote syslog server. | Information stored in one location is vulnerable to accidental or incidental deletion or alteration.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000342-GPOS-00133, SRG-OS-000479-GPOS-00224 |
| V-279568 | low | Nutanix OS must immediately notify the system administrator (SA) and information system security officer (ISSO) (at a minimum) when allocated audit record storage volume reaches 75 percent of the repository maximum audit record storage capacity. | If security personnel are not notified immediately when storage volume reaches 75 percent usage, they are unable to plan for audit record storage capacity expansion. |
| V-279573 | low | Nutanix OS must configure redundant United States Naval Observatory (USNO) time servers, or a time server designated for the appropriate DOD network (NIPRNet/SIPRNet), and/or the Global Positioning System (GPS). | Nutanix OS must compare internal information system clocks at least every 24 hours with a server synchronized to one of the redundant USNO time servers, or a time server designated for the appropriate DOD network (NIPRNet/SIPRNet), and/or the GPS to synchronize clocks between NetIM components.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000359-GPOS-00146, SRG-OS-000785-GPOS-00250, SRG-OS-000355-GPOS-00143, SRG-OS-000356-GPOS-00144 |