CIS Ubuntu 14.04 LTS - 1.5.4 Ensure prelink is disabled

Verify that prelink is disabled to prevent interference with AIDE integrity checking

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File contents

1.5.4 Ensure prelink is disabled (Scored)

Profile Applicability

  • Level 1 - Server
  • Level 1 - Workstation

Description

prelink is a program that modifies ELF shared libraries and ELF dynamically linked binaries in such a way that the time needed for the dynamic linker to perform relocations at startup significantly decreases.

Rationale

The prelinking feature can interfere with the operation of AIDE, because it changes binaries. Prelinking can also increase the vulnerability of the system if a malicious user is able to compromise a common library such as libc.

Audit Procedure

Run the following command and verify prelink is not installed:

dpkg -s prelink

Expected Result

The output should indicate that the package is not installed.

Remediation

Run the following command to restore binaries to normal:

prelink -ua

Run the following command to uninstall prelink:

apt-get remove prelink

Default Value

prelink is not installed by default.

References

  • CIS Controls: 3.5 Use File Integrity Tools For Critical System Files

Profile

  • Level 1 - Server
  • Level 1 - Workstation

cyberstrikeus/cyberstrike/tree/main/.cyberstrike/skill/CIS_benchmarks/Operating_Systems/Ubuntu/cis-ubuntu-linux-14-04-lts-benchmark-v2/cis-ubuntu1404-v210-1-5-4 commit b7013d984a

Frequently asked questions

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