1.1.15 Ensure nodev option set on /dev/shm partition

Information

The nodev mount option specifies that the filesystem cannot contain special devices.

Rationale:

Since the /dev/shm filesystem is not intended to support devices, set this option to ensure that users cannot attempt to create special devices in /dev/shm partitions.

Solution

Edit the /etc/fstab file and add nodev 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,nodev /dev/shm

Additional Information:

Some distributions mount /dev/shm through other means and require /dev/shm to be added to /etc/fstab even though it is already being mounted on boot. Others may configure /dev/shm in other locations and may override /etc/fstab configuration. Consult the documentation appropriate for your distribution.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2971

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6, CSCv7|5.1

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 7c28ed08d87cd5ac0aa78a6924eab1d7edbf1cb608dcf665b191f527c4d729d7