RHEL 10 must prevent Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) redirect messages from being accepted.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-281359 | SRG-OS-000420-GPOS-00186 | RHEL-10-800270 | SV-281359r1167227_rule | 2026-03-11 | 1 |
Description
ICMP redirect messages are used by routers to inform hosts that a more direct route exists for a particular destination. These messages modify the host's route table and are unauthenticated. An illicit ICMP redirect message could result in a man-in-the-middle attack.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000420-GPOS-00186, SRG-OS-000142-GPOS-00090
ℹ️ Check
Note: If IPv6 is disabled on the system, this requirement is not applicable.
Verify RHEL 10 prevents IPv6 ICMP redirect messages from being accepted.
Check the value of the "net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects" variables with the following command:
$ sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0
If "net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects" is not set to "0" or is missing, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 10 to prevent IPv6 ICMP redirect messages from being accepted.
Create a configuration file if it does not already exist:
$ sudo vi /etc/sysctl.d/ipv6_accept_redirects.conf
Add the following line to the file:
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0
Reload settings from all system configuration files with the following command:
$ sudo sysctl --system