The Ubuntu operating system must implement non-executable data to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution.

From Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-002824

SV-90499r2_rule The Ubuntu operating system must implement non-executable data to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution.

Vulnerability discussion

Some adversaries launch attacks with the intent of executing code in non-executable regions of memory or in memory locations that are prohibited. Security safeguards employed to protect memory include, for example, data execution prevention and address space layout randomization. Data execution prevention safeguards can either be hardware-enforced or software-enforced with hardware providing the greater strength of mechanism.Examples of attacks are buffer overflow attacks.

Check content

Verify the NX (no-execution) bit flag is set on the system. Check that the no-execution bit flag is set with the following commands: # dmesg | grep NX [ 0.000000] NX (Execute Disable) protection: active If "dmesg" does not show "NX (Execute Disable) protection" active, check the cpuinfo settings with the following command: # less /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i flags flags : fpu vme de pse tsc ms nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc If "flags" does not contain the "nx" flag, this is a finding.

Fix text

The NX bit execute protection must be enabled in the system BIOS.

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