Title

Any X Windows host must write .Xauthority files. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

.Xauthority files ensure the user is authorized to access specific X Windows host. If .Xauthority files are not used, it may be possible to obtain unauthorized access to the X Windows host.

Check Content

Check if the ‘xorg-x11’ package is installed: # rpm –q xorg-x11 If the xorg-x11 package is not installed this finding does not apply. Check for .Xauthority or .xauth files being utilized by looking for such files in the home directory of a user. Procedure: Verify Xwindows is used on the system. # egrep "^x:5.*X11" /etc/inittab If no line is returned the boot process does not start Xwindows. If Xwindows is not configured to run, this rule is not applicable. Look for xauthority files in user home directory. # cd ~someuser # ls -la|egrep "(\.Xauthority|\.xauth) " If the .Xauthority or .xauth (followed by apparently random characters) files do not exist, ask the SA if the user is using Xwindows. If the user is utilizing Xwindows and none of these files exist, this is a finding.

Fix Text

The X Windows server package should not be needed on a System z virtual OE. It can be removed to close this finding: # rpm –e xorg-x11 If X Windows is required for some reason, ensure that the X Windows host is configured to write .Xauthority files into user home directories. Edit the Xaccess file. Ensure the line that writes the .Xauthority file is uncommented.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-45911r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-850

Group Title: GEN005160

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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