1.1.17 Ensure noexec option set on /dev/shm partition

Information

The noexec mount option specifies that the filesystem cannot contain executable binaries.

Rationale:

Setting this option on a file system prevents users from executing programs from shared memory. This deters users from introducing potentially malicious software on the system.

Solution

Edit the /etc/fstab file and add noexec to the fourth field (mounting options) for the /dev/shm partition. See the fstab(5) manual page for more information.
Run the following command to remount /dev/shm:

# mount -o remount,noexec /dev/shm

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/3148

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-11, CSCv6|3.1, CSCv7|2.6

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: b9c18b3677c0136fe7e429d5436e3bf0c9476cda09c4c2182ec60c12c03914ad