1.4.3 Ensure authentication required for single user mode

Information

Single user mode (rescue mode) is used for recovery when the system detects an issue during boot or by manual selection from the bootloader.

Note: The systemctl option --fail is synonymous with --job-mode=fail. Using either is acceptable.

Rationale:

Requiring authentication in single user mode (rescue mode) prevents an unauthorized user from rebooting the system into single user to gain root privileges without credentials.

Solution

Edit /usr/lib/systemd/system/rescue.service and /usr/lib/systemd/system/emergency.service and set ExecStart to use /sbin/sulogin or /usr/sbin/sulogin:

ExecStart=-/bin/sh -c '/sbin/sulogin; /usr/bin/systemctl --fail --no-block default'

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/3636

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL

References: 800-53|AC-3, CCI|CCI-000213, CSCv7|5.1, Rule-ID|SV-204437r603261_rule, STIG-ID|RHEL-07-010481

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 3ecebbc8dafe8e5e544eb9690e154ed57deb91be685594c87fbf78560dfcec23