Title

.Xauthority or X*.hosts (or equivalent) file(s) must be used to restrict access to the X server. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

If access to the X server is not restricted, a user's X session may be compromised.

Check Content

Determine if the X server is running. Procedure: # ps -ef |grep X Determine if xauth is being used. Procedure: # xauth -i list If the above command sequence does not show any host other than the localhost, then xauth is not being used. # find / -name "X*.hosts" -print -exec cat {} \; 2>/dev/null Search the system for an X*.hosts files, where * is a display number that may be used to limit X window connections. If no files are found, X*.hosts files are not being used. If the X*.hosts files contain any unauthorized hosts, this is a finding. If both xauth and X*.hosts files are not being used, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Create an X*.hosts file, where * is a display number that may be used to limit X window connections. Add the list of authorized X clients to the file.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID:

Vulnerability ID: V-12016

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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