Hardening Linux Endpoint with CIS Benchmark

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Hardening Linux servers (Ubuntu, RHEL, CentOS, Debian) against CIS benchmarks
• Automating Linux security baselines using Ansible, OpenSCAP, or shell scripts
• Meeting compliance requirements (PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2) for Linux endpoints
• Remediating findings from vulnerability scans or security audits

Do not use for Windows hardening (use hardening-windows-endpoint-with-cis-benchmark).

Prerequisites

• Root or sudo access on target Linux endpoints
• CIS Benchmark PDF for target distribution (from cisecurity.org)
• OpenSCAP or CIS-CAT for automated assessment
• Ansible for enterprise-scale remediation (optional)

Workflow

Step 1: Filesystem Configuration (Section 1)

# 1.1.1 Disable unused filesystems
cat >> /etc/modprobe.d/CIS.conf << 'EOF'
install cramfs /bin/true
install freevxfs /bin/true
install jffs2 /bin/true
install hfs /bin/true
install hfsplus /bin/true
install squashfs /bin/true
install udf /bin/true
EOF

# 1.1.2 Ensure /tmp is a separate partition with nodev,nosuid,noexec
# /etc/fstab entry:
# tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
systemctl unmask tmp.mount
systemctl enable tmp.mount

# 1.1.8 Ensure nodev option on /dev/shm
mount -o remount,nodev,nosuid,noexec /dev/shm
echo "tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults,nodev,nosuid,noexec 0 0" >> /etc/fstab

# 1.4 Secure boot settings
chown root:root /boot/grub/grub.cfg
chmod 600 /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# Set GRUB password
grub-mkpasswd-pbkdf2  # Generate hash, add to /etc/grub.d/40_custom

Step 2: Services and Network (Sections 2-3)

# 2.1 Disable unnecessary services
systemctl disable --now avahi-daemon
systemctl disable --now cups
systemctl disable --now rpcbind
systemctl disable --now xinetd

# 2.2 Ensure NTP is configured
apt install chrony -y  # or systemd-timesyncd
systemctl enable --now chrony

# 3.1 Network parameters (host only, not router)
cat >> /etc/sysctl.d/99-cis.conf << 'EOF'
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.send_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.send_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.accept_source_route = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.secure_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.secure_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.all.log_martians = 1
net.ipv4.conf.default.log_martians = 1
net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1
net.ipv4.icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses = 1
net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 1
net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1
net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_ra = 0
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_ra = 0
EOF
sysctl --system

# 3.4 Configure firewall (UFW or firewalld)
ufw enable
ufw default deny incoming
ufw default allow outgoing
ufw allow ssh

Step 3: Access Control (Sections 4-5)

# 5.2 SSH Server Configuration (/etc/ssh/sshd_config)
sed -i 's/#Protocol 2/Protocol 2/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
cat >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config << 'EOF'
LogLevel VERBOSE
MaxAuthTries 4
PermitRootLogin no
PermitEmptyPasswords no
PasswordAuthentication no
X11Forwarding no
MaxStartups 10:30:60
LoginGraceTime 60
AllowTcpForwarding no
ClientAliveInterval 300
ClientAliveCountMax 3
EOF
systemctl restart sshd

# 5.3 Password policy (PAM)
# /etc/security/pwquality.conf
minlen = 14
dcredit = -1
ucredit = -1
ocredit = -1
lcredit = -1

# 5.4 User account settings
# /etc/login.defs
PASS_MAX_DAYS 365
PASS_MIN_DAYS 1
PASS_WARN_AGE 7

# Lock inactive accounts
useradd -D -f 30

Step 4: Audit and Logging (Section 4)

# Install and configure auditd
apt install auditd audispd-plugins -y
systemctl enable --now auditd

# /etc/audit/rules.d/cis.rules
cat > /etc/audit/rules.d/cis.rules << 'EOF'
-w /etc/sudoers -p wa -k scope
-w /etc/sudoers.d/ -p wa -k scope
-w /var/log/sudo.log -p wa -k actions
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S sethostname -S setdomainname -k system-locale
-w /etc/group -p wa -k identity
-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k identity
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k identity
-w /var/log/faillog -p wa -k logins
-w /var/log/lastlog -p wa -k logins
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chmod -S fchmod -S fchmodat -k perm_mod
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S unlink -S rmdir -S rename -k delete
-w /sbin/insmod -p x -k modules
-w /sbin/modprobe -p x -k modules
-e 2
EOF
augenrules --load

# Configure rsyslog for remote logging
echo "*.* @@syslog-server.corp.com:514" >> /etc/rsyslog.d/50-remote.conf
systemctl restart rsyslog

Step 5: Assess with OpenSCAP

# Install OpenSCAP
apt install openscap-scanner scap-security-guide -y

# Run CIS benchmark assessment
oscap xccdf eval \
  --profile xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_cis_level1_server \
  --results /tmp/cis_results.xml \
  --report /tmp/cis_report.html \
  /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/content/ssg-ubuntu2204-ds.xml

# View HTML report in browser for detailed results

Key Concepts

Term	Definition
OpenSCAP	Open-source SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) scanner for automated compliance
auditd	Linux audit framework for monitoring system calls and file access
PAM	Pluggable Authentication Modules; configurable authentication framework for Linux
sysctl	Linux kernel parameter configuration for network and system security tuning
AIDE	Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment; file integrity checker for Linux

Tools & Systems

• OpenSCAP: Automated CIS benchmark assessment for Linux
• Ansible Lockdown: Ansible roles for automated CIS benchmark remediation
• Lynis: Open-source security auditing tool for Linux/Unix systems
• AIDE: File integrity monitoring for Linux endpoints
• auditd: Linux audit framework for system call monitoring

Common Pitfalls

• Applying server benchmarks to workstations: CIS provides separate benchmarks for server and workstation profiles. Server benchmarks disable desktop services.
• Breaking SSH access: Misconfiguring sshd_config (especially PermitRootLogin, PasswordAuthentication) can lock out administrators. Always test SSH configuration changes from a second session.
• Not testing firewall rules: Enabling UFW without allowing SSH first will disconnect remote sessions permanently.
• Kernel parameter changes without testing: Some sysctl settings can break application networking. Test in staging first.