Details

A core dump is the memory of an executable program. It is generally used to determine

why a program aborted. It can also be used to glean confidential information from a core

file. The system provides the ability to set a soft limit for core dumps, but this can be

overridden by the user.

*Rationale*

Setting a hard limit on core dumps prevents users from overriding the soft variable. If core

dumps are required, consider setting limits for user groups (see limits.conf(5)). In

addition, setting the fs.suid_dumpable variable to 0 will prevent setuid programs from

dumping core. The apport service if active will override the fs.suid_dumpable variable

setting and automatically create core dump reports. The whoopsie service monitors apport

core dump reports and transmits them to Canonical.

Solution

Add the following line to the /etc/security/limits.conf file.* hard core 0Add the following line to the /etc/sysctl.conf file.
fs.suid_dumpable = 0Uninstall the apport and whoopsie packages or comment out any start lines in
/etc/init/apport.conf and /etc/init/whoopsie.conf files-#start on runlevel [2345]

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/91

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Access Control.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|AC-6(10)

Source

• Tenable.com/audits