RHEL 9 must not accept router advertisements on all IPv6 interfaces.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
mediumV-257971SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227RHEL-09-254010SV-257971r991589_rule2025-02-272
Description
An illicit router advertisement message could result in a man-in-the-middle attack.
ℹ️ Check
Verify RHEL 9 does not accept router advertisements on all IPv6 interfaces, unless the system is a router. Note: If IPv6 is disabled on the system, this requirement is Not Applicable. Determine if router advertisements are not accepted by using the following command: $ sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra = 0 If the "accept_ra" value is not "0" and is not documented with the information system security officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, 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.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra | tail -1 net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra = 0 If "net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra" is not set to "0" or is missing, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 9 to not accept router advertisements on all IPv6 interfaces unless the system is a router. Add or edit the following line in a single system configuration file, in the "/etc/sysctl.d/" directory: net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra = 0 Load settings from all system configuration files with the following command: $ sudo sysctl --system