Title

The operating system must synchronize system clocks within and between systems or system components. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Time synchronization of system clocks is essential for the correct execution of many system services, including identification and authentication processes that involve certificates and time-of-day restrictions as part of access control. Denial of service or failure to deny expired credentials may result without properly synchronized clocks within and between systems and system components. Time is commonly expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or local time with an offset from UTC. The granularity of time measurements refers to the degree of synchronization between system clocks and reference clocks, such as clocks synchronizing within hundreds of milliseconds or tens of milliseconds. Organizations may define different time granularities for system components. Time service can be critical to other security capabilities—such as access control and identification and authentication—depending on the nature of the mechanisms used to support the capabilities.

Check Content

Verify the operating system is configured to synchronize system clocks within and between systems or system components. If the operating system is not configured to synchronize system clocks within and between systems or system components, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the operating system to synchronize system clocks within and between systems or system components.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-263661r982567_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-263661

Group Title: SRG-OS-000785

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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