1.1.2.2.4 Ensure noexec option set on /dev/shm partition

Information

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

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

- IF - a separate partition exists for /dev/shm.

Edit the /etc/fstab file and add noexec to the fourth field (mounting options) for the /dev/shm partition.

Example:

tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults,rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0

Run the following command to remount /dev/shm with the configured options:

# mount -o remount /dev/shm

Note: It is recommended to use tmpfs as the device/filesystem type as /dev/shm is used as shared memory space by applications.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/24330

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-7(2), CCI|CCI-001764, CSCv7|14.6, Rule-ID|SV-230510r958804_rule, Rule-ID|SV-257864r958804_rule, Rule-ID|SV-269315r1050197_rule, STIG-ID|ALMA-09-026640, STIG-ID|RHEL-08-040122, STIG-ID|RHEL-09-231115

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f8ba46168cf2a73dbead777ff85429f2c02f0b39d0a9d7dc529f7030958b0916