STIGQter: STIG Summary: VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 2 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

The Photon operating system must be configured to audit the loading and unloading of dynamic kernel modules.

DISA Rule

SV-258851r991580_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258851

Group Title

SRG-OS-000471-GPOS-00216

Rule Version

PHTN-40-000175

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000172 - Generate audit records for the event types defined in AU-2 c that include the audit record content defined in AU-3.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Navigate to and open:

/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules

Add or update the following lines:

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S init_module -F key=modules
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module -F key=modules

At the command line, run the following command to load the new audit rules:

# /sbin/augenrules --load

Note: An "audit.STIG.rules" file is provided with this guidance for placement in "/etc/audit/rules.d" that contains all rules needed for auditd.

Note: An older "audit.STIG.rules" may exist and may reference older "GEN" SRG IDs. This file can be removed and replaced as necessary with an updated one.

Check Contents

At the command line, run the following command to verify an audit rule exists to audit kernel modules:

# auditctl -l | grep init_module

Expected result:

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S init_module -F key=modules
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module -F key=modules

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Note: This check depends on the "auditd" service to be in a running state for accurate results. The "auditd" service is enabled in control PHTN-40-000016.

Vulnerability Number

V-258851

Documentable

False

Rule Version

PHTN-40-000175

Severity Override Guidance

At the command line, run the following command to verify an audit rule exists to audit kernel modules:

# auditctl -l | grep init_module

Expected result:

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S init_module -F key=modules
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module -F key=modules

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Note: This check depends on the "auditd" service to be in a running state for accurate results. The "auditd" service is enabled in control PHTN-40-000016.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5569