Title

Wireless network adapters must be disabled. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The use of wireless networking can introduce many different attack vectors into the organization’s network. Common attack vectors such as malicious association and ad hoc networks will allow an attacker to spoof a wireless access point (AP), allowing validated systems to connect to the malicious AP and enabling the attacker to monitor and record network traffic. These malicious APs can also serve to create a man-in-the-middle attack or be used to create a denial of service to valid network resources.

Check Content

This is N/A for systems that do not have wireless network adapters. Verify that there are no wireless interfaces configured on the system: # ifconfig -a eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr b8:ac:6f:65:31:e5 inet addr:192.168.2.100 Bcast:192.168.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 inet6 addr: fe80::baac:6fff:fe65:31e5/64 Scope:Link UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:2697529 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:2630541 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:2159382827 (2.0 GiB) TX bytes:1389552776 (1.2 GiB) Interrupt:17 lo Link encap:Local Loopback inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0 inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1 RX packets:2849 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:2849 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:2778290 (2.6 MiB) TX bytes:2778290 (2.6 MiB) If a wireless interface is configured, it must be documented and approved by the local Authorizing Official. If a wireless interface is configured and has not been documented and approved, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the system to disable all wireless network interfaces.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-87461r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-72817

Group Title: RHEL-06-000293

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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