Title

Global initialization files must contain the mesg -n or mesg n commands. (Cat III impact)

Discussion

If the mesg -n or mesg n command is not placed into the system profile, messaging can be used to cause a Denial of Service attack.

Check Content

Check global initialization files for the presence of mesg -n or mesg n. Procedure: # grep "mesg" /etc/.login /etc/profile /etc/bashrc /etc/csh.login /etc/csh.cshrc If global initialization files exist and do not contain mesg -n or mesg n, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Edit /etc/profile or another global initialization script, and add the mesg -n command.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-38484r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-825

Group Title: GEN001780

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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