Title

On the BIND 9.x server the platform on which the name server software is hosted must be configured to send outgoing DNS messages from a random port. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

OS configuration practices as issued by the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US CERT) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) National Vulnerability Database (NVD), based on identified vulnerabilities that pertain to the application profile into which the name server software fits should be always followed. In particular, hosts that run the name server software should not provide any other services and therefore should be configured to respond to DNS traffic only. In other words, the only allowed incoming ports/protocols to these hosts should be 53/udp and 53/tcp. Outgoing DNS messages should be sent from a random port to minimize the risk of an attacker guessing the outgoing message port and sending forged replies.

Check Content

Verify that the BIND 9.x server does not limit outgoing DNS messages to a specific port. Inspect the "named.conf" file for the any instance of the "port" flag: options { listen-on port 53 { <ip_address>; }; listen-on-v6 port 53 { <ip_v6_address>; }; }; If any "port" flag is found outside of the "listen-on" or "listen-on-v6" statements, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Edit the "named.conf" file. Configure the BIND 9.x server to only use the "port" flag with the "listen-on" and "listen-on-v6" statements: options { listen-on port 53 { <ip_address>; }; listen-on-v6 port 53 { <ip_v6_address>; }; }; Restart the BIND 9.x process.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-272402r1068045_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-272402

Group Title: SRG-APP-000516-DNS-000110

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.