RHEL 9 must enable kernel parameters to enforce discretionary access control on symlinks.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-257802	SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00123	RHEL-09-213035	SV-257802r958702_rule	2025-02-27	2

Description
By enabling the fs.protected_symlinks kernel parameter, symbolic links are permitted to be followed only when outside a sticky world-writable directory, or when the user identifier (UID) of the link and follower match, or when the directory owner matches the symlink's owner. Disallowing such symlinks helps mitigate vulnerabilities based on insecure file system accessed by privileged programs, avoiding an exploitation vector exploiting unsafe use of open() or creat(). Satisfies: SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00123, SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125

Description

By enabling the fs.protected_symlinks kernel parameter, symbolic links are permitted to be followed only when outside a sticky world-writable directory, or when the user identifier (UID) of the link and follower match, or when the directory owner matches the symlink's owner. Disallowing such symlinks helps mitigate vulnerabilities based on insecure file system accessed by privileged programs, avoiding an exploitation vector exploiting unsafe use of open() or creat(). Satisfies: SRG-OS-000312-GPOS-00123, SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125

ℹ️ Check
Verify RHEL 9 is configured to enable DAC on symlinks. Check the status of the fs.protected_symlinks kernel parameter with the following command: $ sudo sysctl fs.protected_symlinks fs.protected_symlinks = 1 If "fs.protected_symlinks " is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding. Check that the configuration files are present to enable this kernel parameter. $ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config \| egrep -v '^(#\|;)' \| grep -F fs.protected_symlinks \| tail -1 fs.protected_symlinks = 1 If "fs.protected_symlinks" is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to enable DAC on symlinks. Check the status of the fs.protected_symlinks kernel parameter with the following command: $ sudo sysctl fs.protected_symlinks fs.protected_symlinks = 1 If "fs.protected_symlinks " is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding. Check that the configuration files are present to enable this kernel parameter. $ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config | egrep -v '^(#|;)' | grep -F fs.protected_symlinks | tail -1 fs.protected_symlinks = 1 If "fs.protected_symlinks" is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 9 to enable DAC on symlinks with the following: Add or edit the following line in a system configuration file in the "/etc/sysctl.d/" directory: fs.protected_symlinks = 1 Load settings from all system configuration files with the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system