1.4.3 Ensure authentication required for single user mode (Not Scored)
Profile Applicability
Level 1 - Server Level 1 - Workstation
Description
Single user mode (rescue mode) is used for recovery when the system detects an issue during boot or by manual selection from the bootloader.
Rationale
Requiring authentication in single user mode (rescue mode) prevents an unauthorized user from rebooting the system into single user to gain root privileges without credentials.
Audit
Run the following commands and verify that /sbin/sulogin is used as shown:
# grep /sbin/sulogin /usr/lib/systemd/system/rescue.service ExecStart=-/bin/sh -c "/sbin/sulogin; /usr/bin/systemctl --fail --no-block default" # grep /sbin/sulogin /usr/lib/systemd/system/emergency.service ExecStart=-/bin/sh -c "/sbin/sulogin; /usr/bin/systemctl --fail --no-block default"
Remediation
Edit /usr/lib/systemd/system/rescue.service and /usr/lib/systemd/system/emergency.service and set ExecStart to use /sbin/sulogin:
ExecStart=-/bin/sh -c "/sbin/sulogin; /usr/bin/systemctl --fail --no-block default"