Detections
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2.1.20 Ensure X window server services are not in use

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This audit has been deprecated and will be removed in a future update.

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Information

The X Window System provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) where users can have multiple windows in which to run programs and various add on. The X Windows system is typically used on workstations where users login, but not on servers where users typically do not login.

Unless your organization specifically requires graphical login access via X Windows, remove it to reduce the potential attack surface.

Solution

- IF - a Graphical Desktop Manager or X-Windows server is not required and approved by local site policy:

Run the following command to remove the X Windows Server packages:

# dnf remove xorg-x11-server-common

Impact:

If a Graphical Desktop Manager (GDM) is in use on the system, there may be a dependency on the xorg-x11-server-common package. If the GDM is required and approved by local site policy, the package should not be removed.

Many Linux systems run applications which require a Java runtime. Some Linux Java packages have a dependency on specific X Windows xorg-x11-fonts. One workaround to avoid this dependency is to use the "headless" Java packages for your specific Java runtime.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/18211

Item Details

References: CSCv7|9.2

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f6d5f1d9be46b17428caade06412fe8969b237ba66d51dfaaaab4e33914b2a66