Title

RHEL 9 Bluetooth must be disabled. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

This requirement applies to wireless peripheral technologies (e.g., wireless mice, keyboards, displays, etc.) used with RHEL 9 systems. Wireless peripherals (e.g., Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/IR keyboards, mice and pointing devices, and near field communications [NFC]) present a unique challenge by creating an open, unsecured port on a computer. Wireless peripherals must meet DOD requirements for wireless data transmission and be approved for use by the Authorizing Official (AO). Even though some wireless peripherals, such as mice and pointing devices, do not ordinarily carry information that need to be protected, modification of communications with these wireless peripherals may be used to compromise the RHEL 9 operating system. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000095-GPOS-00049, SRG-OS-000300-GPOS-00118

Check Content

Verify that RHEL 9 disables the ability to load the Bluetooth kernel module with the following command: $ sudo grep -r bluetooth /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.d/* blacklist bluetooth If the command does not return any output, or the line is commented out, and use of Bluetooth is not documented with the information system security officer (ISSO) as an operational requirement, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 9 to disable the Bluetooth adapter when not in use. Create or modify the "/etc/modprobe.d/bluetooth.conf" file with the following line: install bluetooth /bin/false blacklist bluetooth Reboot the system for the settings to take effect.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-258039r926104_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-258039

Group Title: SRG-OS-000095-GPOS-00049

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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