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