Disable the Automounter

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Description

The autofs daemon mounts and unmounts filesystems, such as user home directories shared via NFS, on demand. In addition, autofs can be used to handle removable media, and the default configuration provides the cdrom device as /misc/cd. However, this method of providing access to removable media is not common, so autofs can almost always be disabled if NFS is not in use. Even if NFS is required, it may be possible to configure filesystem mounts statically by editing /etc/fstab rather than relying on the automounter.

The autofs service can be disabled with the following command:

$ sudo systemctl mask --now autofs.service

Rationale

Disabling the automounter permits the administrator to statically control filesystem mounting through /etc/fstab.

Additionally, automatically mounting filesystems permits easy introduction of unknown devices, thereby facilitating malicious activity.

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 ] && dpkg-query --show --showformat='${db:Status-Status}\n' 'autofs' 2>/dev/null | grep -q installed ); then

SYSTEMCTL_EXEC='/usr/bin/systemctl'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" stop 'autofs.service'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" disable 'autofs.service'
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" mask 'autofs.service'
# Disable socket activation if we have a unit file for it
if "$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" -q list-unit-files autofs.socket; then
    "$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" stop 'autofs.socket'
    "$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" mask 'autofs.socket'
fi
# The service may not be running because it has been started and failed,
# so let's reset the state so OVAL checks pass.
# Service should be 'inactive', not 'failed' after reboot though.
"$SYSTEMCTL_EXEC" reset-failed 'autofs.service' || true

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:
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.6
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-MP-7
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_autofs_disabled

- name: Disable the Automounter - Collect systemd Services Present in the System
  ansible.builtin.command: systemctl -q list-unit-files --type service
  register: service_exists
  changed_when: false
  failed_when: service_exists.rc not in [0, 1]
  check_mode: false
  when: ( ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman",
    "container"] and "autofs" in ansible_facts.packages )
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.6
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-MP-7
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_autofs_disabled

- name: Disable the Automounter - Ensure autofs.service is Masked
  ansible.builtin.systemd:
    name: autofs.service
    state: stopped
    enabled: false
    masked: true
  when:
  - ( ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
    and "autofs" in ansible_facts.packages )
  - service_exists.stdout_lines is search("autofs.service", multiline=True)
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.6
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-MP-7
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_autofs_disabled

- name: Unit Socket Exists - autofs.socket
  ansible.builtin.command: systemctl -q list-unit-files autofs.socket
  register: socket_file_exists
  changed_when: false
  failed_when: socket_file_exists.rc not in [0, 1]
  check_mode: false
  when: ( ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman",
    "container"] and "autofs" in ansible_facts.packages )
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.6
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-MP-7
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_autofs_disabled

- name: Disable the Automounter - Disable Socket autofs
  ansible.builtin.systemd:
    name: autofs.socket
    enabled: false
    state: stopped
    masked: true
  when:
  - ( ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
    and "autofs" in ansible_facts.packages )
  - socket_file_exists.stdout_lines is search("autofs.socket", multiline=True)
  tags:
  - NIST-800-171-3.4.6
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
  - NIST-800-53-MP-7
  - disable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - service_autofs_disabled