Enable Randomized Layout of Virtual Address Spacerule

To set the runtime status of the kernel.randomize_va_space kernel parameter, run the following command:

$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.randomize_va_space=2

kernel.randomize_va_space = 2

Address space layout randomization (ASLR) makes it more difficult for an attacker to predict the location of attack code they have introduced into a process's address space during an attempt at exploitation. Additionally, ASLR makes it more difficult for an attacker to know the location of existing code in order to re-purpose it using return oriented programming (ROP) techniques.

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if [ ! -f /.dockerenv ] && [ ! -f /run/.containerenv ]; then



#
# Set runtime for kernel.randomize_va_space
#
/sbin/sysctl -q -n -w kernel.randomize_va_space="2"

#
# If kernel.randomize_va_space present in /etc/sysctl.conf, change value to "2"
#	else, add "kernel.randomize_va_space = 2" to /etc/sysctl.conf
#
# Function to replace configuration setting in config file or add the configuration setting if
# it does not exist.
#
# Expects arguments:
#
# config_file:		Configuration file that will be modified
# key:			Configuration option to change
# value:		Value of the configuration option to change
# cce:			The CCE identifier or '@CCENUM@' if no CCE identifier exists
# format:		The printf-like format string that will be given stripped key and value as arguments,
#			so e.g. '%s=%s' will result in key=value subsitution (i.e. without spaces around =)
#
# Optional arugments:
#
# format:		Optional argument to specify the format of how key/value should be
# 			modified/appended in the configuration file. The default is key = value.
#
# Example Call(s):
#
#     With default format of 'key = value':
#     replace_or_append '/etc/sysctl.conf' '^kernel.randomize_va_space' '2' '@CCENUM@'
#
#     With custom key/value format:
#     replace_or_append '/etc/sysconfig/selinux' '^SELINUX=' 'disabled' '@CCENUM@' '%s=%s'
#
#     With a variable:
#     replace_or_append '/etc/sysconfig/selinux' '^SELINUX=' $var_selinux_state '@CCENUM@' '%s=%s'
#
function replace_or_append {
  local default_format='%s = %s' case_insensitive_mode=yes sed_case_insensitive_option='' grep_case_insensitive_option=''
  local config_file=$1
  local key=$2
  local value=$3
  local cce=$4
  local format=$5

  if [ "$case_insensitive_mode" = yes ]; then
    sed_case_insensitive_option="i"
    grep_case_insensitive_option="-i"
  fi
  [ -n "$format" ] || format="$default_format"
  # Check sanity of the input
  [ $# -ge "3" ] || { echo "Usage: replace_or_append <config_file_location> <key_to_search> <new_value> [<CCE number or literal '@CCENUM@' if unknown>] [printf-like format, default is '$default_format']" >&2; exit 1; }

  # Test if the config_file is a symbolic link. If so, use --follow-symlinks with sed.
  # Otherwise, regular sed command will do.
  sed_command=('sed' '-i')
  if test -L "$config_file"; then
    sed_command+=('--follow-symlinks')
  fi

  # Test that the cce arg is not empty or does not equal @CCENUM@.
  # If @CCENUM@ exists, it means that there is no CCE assigned.
  if [ -n "$cce" ] && [ "$cce" != '@CCENUM@' ]; then
    cce="${cce}"
  else
    cce="CCE"
  fi

  # Strip any search characters in the key arg so that the key can be replaced without
  # adding any search characters to the config file.
  stripped_key=$(sed 's/[\^=\$,;+]*//g' <<< "$key")

  # shellcheck disable=SC2059
  printf -v formatted_output "$format" "$stripped_key" "$value"

  # If the key exists, change it. Otherwise, add it to the config_file.
  # We search for the key string followed by a word boundary (matched by \>),
  # so if we search for 'setting', 'setting2' won't match.
  if LC_ALL=C grep -q -m 1 $grep_case_insensitive_option -e "${key}\\>" "$config_file"; then
    "${sed_command[@]}" "s/${key}\\>.*/$formatted_output/g$sed_case_insensitive_option" "$config_file"
  else
    # \n is precaution for case where file ends without trailing newline
    printf '\n# Per %s: Set %s in %s\n' "$cce" "$formatted_output" "$config_file" >> "$config_file"
    printf '%s\n' "$formatted_output" >> "$config_file"
  fi
}
replace_or_append '/etc/sysctl.conf' '^kernel.randomize_va_space' "2" ''

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

- name: Ensure sysctl kernel.randomize_va_space is set to 2
  sysctl:
    name: kernel.randomize_va_space
    value: '2'
    state: present
    reload: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
    - NIST-800-53-SC-30
    - NIST-800-53-SC-30(2)
    - disable_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - medium_severity
    - reboot_required
    - sysctl_kernel_randomize_va_space