Description

The rpcbind utility maps RPC services to the ports on which they listen. RPC processes notify rpcbind when they start, registering the ports they are listening on and the RPC program numbers they expect to serve. The rpcbind service redirects the client to the proper port number so it can communicate with the requested service. If the system does not require RPC (such as for NFS servers) then this service should be disabled. The rpcbind package can be removed with the following command:

$ apt-get remove rpcbind

Rationale

If the system does not require rpc based services, it is recommended that rpcbind be disabled to reduce the attack surface.

Remediation

Shell script

The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.

#!/bin/bash

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

# CAUTION: This remediation script will remove rpcbind
#	   from the system, and may remove any packages
#	   that depend on rpcbind. Execute this
#	   remediation AFTER testing on a non-production
#	   system!

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get remove -y "rpcbind"

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

Ansible playbook

The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.

- name: Ensure rpcbind is removed
  package:
    name: rpcbind
    state: absent
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - low_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - package_rpcbind_removed