Set nftables Configuration for Loopback Traffic
Description
Configure the loopback interface to accept traffic.
Configure all other interfaces to deny traffic to the loopback
network.
Rationale
Loopback traffic is generated between processes on machine and is
typically critical to operation of the system. The loopback interface
is the only place that loopback network traffic should be seen,
all other interfaces should ignore traffic on this network as an
anti-spoofing measure.
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 ( dpkg-query --show --showformat='${db:Status-Status}\n' 'nftables' 2>/dev/null | grep -q installed ); then
var_nftables_family='inet'
grubfile="/boot/grub/grub.cfg"
# Implement the loopback rules:
nft add rule inet filter input iif lo accept
nft add rule inet filter input ip saddr 127.0.0.0/8 counter drop
# Check IPv6 is disabled, if false implement IPv6 loopback rules
disabled="false"
[ -f "$grubfile" ] && ! grep "^\s*linux" "$grubfile" | grep -vq "ipv6.disable=1" && disabled="true"
grep -Eq "^\s*net\.ipv6\.conf\.all\.disable_ipv6\s*=\s*1\b(\s+#.*)?$" \
/etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf && \
grep -Eq "^\s*net\.ipv6\.conf\.default\.disable_ipv6\s*=\s*1\b(\s+#.*)?$" \
/etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf && sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 | \
grep -Eq "^\s*net\.ipv6\.conf\.all\.disable_ipv6\s*=\s*1\b(\s+#.*)?$" && \
sysctl net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 | \
grep -Eq "^\s*net\.ipv6\.conf\.default\.disable_ipv6\s*=\s*1\b(\s+#.*)?$" && disabled="true"
# Is IPv6 Disabled? (true/false)
if [ "$disabled" = false ] ; then
nft add rule inet filter input ip6 saddr ::1 counter drop
fi
nft list ruleset > "/etc/${var_nftables_family}-filter.rules"
else
>&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi
Ansible playbook
The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.
- name: Gather the package facts
package_facts:
manager: auto
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
- name: Implement Loopback Rules
ansible.builtin.command: nft add rule inet filter input iif lo accept
when: ( "nftables" in ansible_facts.packages )
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
- name: Create Rule to Drop Input IP Address from Loopback
ansible.builtin.command: nft add rule inet filter input ip saddr 127.0.0.0/8 counter
drop
when: ( "nftables" in ansible_facts.packages )
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
- name: Check if IPv6 is Disabled in grub Configuration
ansible.builtin.shell: |
[ -z "$(grep "^\s*linux" /boot/grub2/grub.cfg | grep -v ipv6.disabled=1)" ]
register: ipv6_status
when: ( "nftables" in ansible_facts.packages )
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
- name: Check sysctl value of net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6
sysctl:
name: net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6
state: present
value: '1'
check_mode: true
register: sysctl_ipv6_all
when: ( "nftables" in ansible_facts.packages )
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
- name: Check sysctl value of net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6
sysctl:
name: net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6
state: present
value: '1'
check_mode: true
register: sysctl_ipv6_default
when: ( "nftables" in ansible_facts.packages )
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
- name: Implement IPv6 loopback rules
ansible.builtin.command: nft add rule inet filter input ip6 saddr ::1 counter drop
when:
- ( "nftables" in ansible_facts.packages )
- ipv6_status is not skipped
- sysctl_ipv6_default is not skipped
- sysctl_ipv6_all is not skipped
- ipv6_status.rc == 0 or sysctl_ipv6_all.found > 0 or sysctl_ipv6_default.found
> 0
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-1.4.1
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- set_nftables_loopback_traffic
Warning
Changing firewall settings while connected over network can
result in being locked out of the system.
Keep in mind the remediation makes changes only to the running
system, in order to keep the changes need to take care to save
the nft settings to the relvant configutation files.