RHEL 9 must log IPv4 packets with impossible addresses by default.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-257961 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | RHEL-09-253030 | SV-257961r991589_rule | 2025-02-27 | 2 |
| Description |
|---|
| The presence of "martian" packets (which have impossible addresses) as well as spoofed packets, source-routed packets, and redirects could be a sign of nefarious network activity. Logging these packets enables this activity to be detected. |
| ℹ️ Check |
|---|
| Verify RHEL 9 logs IPv4 martian packets by default. Check the value of the accept source route variable with the following command: $ sudo sysctl net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians = 1 If the returned line does not have a value of "1", a line is not returned, or the line is commented out, this is a finding. Check that the configuration files are present to enable this network parameter. $ sudo /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl --cat-config | egrep -v '^(#|;)' | grep -F net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians | tail -1 net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians = 1 If "net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians" is not set to "1" or is missing, this is a finding. |
| ✔️ Fix |
|---|
| Configure RHEL 9 to log martian packets on IPv4 interfaces by default. Add or edit the following line in a single system configuration file, in the "/etc/sysctl.d/" directory: net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians=1 Load settings from all system configuration files with the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system |