1.1.7 Ensure noexec option set on /dev/shm partition

Information

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

Note: /dev/shm is mounted automatically by systemd. /dev/shm needs to be added to /etc/fstab to add mount options even though it is already being mounted on boot.

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,nodev,nosuid /dev/shm

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2925

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|CM-11, 800-53|SC-7(10), CSCv7|2.6, CSCv7|13

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 24e20a0831ea37fe8831b1bf6d1bc847dd858f71a4d362bddd68555a402457b6