Title

System security patches and updates must be installed and up-to-date. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Timely patching is critical for maintaining the operational availability, confidentiality, and integrity of information technology (IT) systems. However, failure to keep operating system and application software patched is a common mistake made by IT professionals. New patches are released daily, and it is often difficult for even experienced system administrators to keep abreast of all the new patches. When new weaknesses in an operating system exist, patches are usually made available by the vendor to resolve the problems. If the most recent security patches and updates are not installed, unauthorized users may take advantage of weaknesses present in the unpatched software. The lack of prompt attention to patching could result in a system compromise.

Check Content

Obtain the list of available package security updates from Novell. Check the available package updates have been installed on the system. Use the "rpm" command to list the packages installed on the system. Example: # rpm -qa --last If updated packages are available and applicable to the system and have not been installed, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Install the security patches or updated packages available from the vendor.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-44762r2_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-783

Group Title: GEN000120

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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