Remote Apple Events must be disabled.

From Apple OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) Workstation Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000382

SV-72843r1_rule Remote Apple Events must be disabled.

Vulnerability discussion

It is detrimental for operating systems to provide, or install by default, functionality exceeding requirements or mission objectives. These unnecessary capabilities or services are often overlooked and therefore may remain unsecured. They increase the risk to the platform by providing additional attack vectors.Operating systems are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations (e.g., key missions, functions). Examples of non-essential capabilities include, but are not limited to, games, software packages, tools, and demonstration software, not related to requirements or providing a wide array of functionality not required for every mission, but cannot be disabled.Remote Apple Events must be disabled.

Check content

Remote Apple Events must be disabled. To check if Remote Apple Events is disabled, run the following command: sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'print com.apple.AEServer:Disabled' /var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist If the returned value isn't 'true', this is a finding.

Fix text

To disable Remote Apple Events, run the following command: sudo defaults write /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist 'com.apple.AEServer' -dict Disabled -bool true

Pro Tips

Lavender hyperlinks in small type off to the right (of CSS class id, if you view the page source) point to globally unique URIs for each document and item. Copy the link location and paste anywhere you need to talk unambiguously about these things.

You can obtain data about documents and items in other formats. Simply provide an HTTP header Accept: text/turtle or Accept: application/rdf+xml.