STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 9 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 9 must audit all uses of the init_module and finit_module system calls.

DISA Rule

SV-258190r1155609_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258190

Group Title

SRG-OS-000037-GPOS-00015

Rule Version

RHEL-09-654080

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000130 - Ensure that audit records containing information that establishes what type of event occurred.
• CCI-000135 - Generate audit records containing the organization-defined additional information that is to be included in the audit records.
• CCI-000169 - Provide audit record generation capability for the event types the system is capable of auditing as defined in AU-2 a. on organization-defined information system components.
• CCI-000172 - Generate audit records for the event types defined in AU-2 c that include the audit record content defined in AU-3.
• CCI-002884 - Log organization-defined audit events for nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 9 to generate an audit event for any successful/unsuccessful use of the "init_module" and "finit_module" system calls by adding or updating the following rules in the "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules" file:

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S init_module,finit_module -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k module_chng
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module,finit_module -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k module_chng

To load the rules to the kernel immediately, use the following command:

$ sudo augenrules --load

Check Contents

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to audit the execution of the "init_module" and "finit_module" system calls with the following command:

$ sudo auditctl -l | grep init_module

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S init_module,finit_module -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=-1 -F key=module_chng
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module,finit_module -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=-1 -F key=module_chng

If both the "b32" and "b64" audit rules are not defined for the "init_module" system call, or any of the lines returned are commented out, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258190

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-654080

Severity Override Guidance

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to audit the execution of the "init_module" and "finit_module" system calls with the following command:

$ sudo auditctl -l | grep init_module

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S init_module,finit_module -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=-1 -F key=module_chng
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module,finit_module -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=-1 -F key=module_chng

If both the "b32" and "b64" audit rules are not defined for the "init_module" system call, or any of the lines returned are commented out, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551