How to secure an Ubuntu 12.04 LTS server - Part 1 The Basics

This guide is based on various community forum posts and webpages. Special thanks to all. All comments and improvements are very welcome as this is purely a personal experimental project at this point and must be considered a work in progress. 

This guide is intended as a relatively easy step by step guide to:

Harden the security on an Ubuntu 12.04 LTS server by installing and configuring the following:

  1. Install and configure Firewall - ufw
  2. Secure shared memory - fstab 
  3. SSH - Key based login, disable root login and change port 
  4. Apache SSL - Disable SSL v3 support
  5. Protect su by limiting access only to admin group 
  6. Harden network with sysctl settings 
  7. Disable Open DNS Recursion and Remove Version Info  - Bind9 DNS 
  8. Prevent IP Spoofing
  9. Harden PHP for security 
  10. Restrict Apache Information Leakage
  11. Install and configure Apache application firewall - ModSecurity
  12. Protect from DDOS (Denial of Service) attacks with ModEvasive
  13. Scan logs and ban suspicious hosts - DenyHosts and Fail2Ban
  14. Intrusion Detection - PSAD
  15. Check for RootKits - RKHunter and CHKRootKit
  16. Scan open Ports - Nmap
  17. Analyse system LOG files - LogWatch
  18. SELinux - Apparmor
  19. Audit your system security - Tiger

Requirements:

  • Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or later server with a standard LAMP stack installed.

1. Firewall - UFW

  • A good place to start is to install a Firewall. 
  • UFW - Uncomplicated Firewall is a basic firewall that works very well and easy to configure with its Firewall configuration tool - gufw, or use  Shorewall, fwbuilder, or Firestarter.
  • Use Firestarter GUI to configure your firewall or refer to the Ubuntu Server Guide,  UFW manual pages or the Ubuntu UFW community documentation.
  • Install UFW and enable, open a terminal window and enter :
sudo apt-get install ufw
  • Allow SSH and Http services.
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow http
  • Enable the firewall.
sudo ufw enable
  • Check the status of the firewall.
sudo ufw status verbose

2. Secure shared memory.

  • Shared memory can be used in an attack against a running service. Modify /etc/fstab to make it more secure.
  • Open a Terminal Window and enter the following :
sudo vi /etc/fstab
  • Add the following line and save. You will need to reboot for this setting to take effect :
  • Note : This only is works in Ubuntu 12.04 - For later Ubuntu versions replace /dev/shm with /run/shm 
  • Save and Reboot when done
tmpfs     /dev/shm     tmpfs     defaults,noexec,nosuid     0     0

3. SSH Hardening - key based login, disable root login and change port.

  • The best way to secure SSH is to use public/private key based login. See SSH/OpenSSH/Keys
  • If you have to use password authentication, the easiest way to secure SSH is to disable root login and change the SSH port to something different than the standard port 22. 
  • Before disabling the root login create a new SSH user and make sure the user belongs to the admin group (see step 4. below regarding the admin group).
  • if you change the SSH port keep the port number below 1024 as these are priviledged ports that can only be opened by root or processes running as root. 
  • If you change the SSH port also open the new port you have chosen on the firewall and close port 22.
  • Open a Terminal Window and enter :
sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
  • Change or add the following and save.
Port <ENTER YOUR PORT>
Protocol 2
PermitRootLogin no
DebianBanner no
  • Restart SSH server, open a Terminal Window and enter :
sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart

4. Apache SSL Hardening - disable SSL v3 support.

  • The SSL v3 protocol has been proven to be insecure. 
  • We will disable Apache support for the protocol and force the use of the newer protocols. 
  • Open a Terminal Window and enter :
sudo vi /etc/apache2/mods-available/ssl.conf
  • Change this line from :
SSLProtocol all -SSLv2
  • To the following and save.
SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3
  • Restart the Apache server, open a Terminal Window and enter :
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

5. Protect su by limiting access only to admin group.

  • To limit the use of su by admin users only we need to create an admin group, then add users and limit the use of su to the admin group.
  • Add a admin group to the system and add your own admin username to the group by replacing <YOUR ADMIN USERNAME> below with your admin username.
  • Open a terminal window and enter:
sudo groupadd admin
sudo usermod -a -G admin <YOUR ADMIN USERNAME>
sudo dpkg-statoverride --update --add root admin 4750 /bin/su

6. Harden network with sysctl settings.

  • The /etc/sysctl.conf file contain all the sysctl settings.
  • Prevent source routing of incoming packets and log malformed IP's enter the following in a terminal window:
sudo vi /etc/sysctl.conf
  • Edit the /etc/sysctl.conf file and un-comment or add the following lines :
# IP Spoofing protection
net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 1
net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter = 1

# Ignore ICMP broadcast requests
net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts = 1

# Disable source packet routing
net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0
net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_source_route = 0 
net.ipv4.conf.default.accept_source_route = 0
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_source_route = 0

# Ignore send redirects
net.ipv4.conf.all.send_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.send_redirects = 0

# Block SYN attacks
net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 2048
net.ipv4.tcp_synack_retries = 2
net.ipv4.tcp_syn_retries = 5

# Log Martians
net.ipv4.conf.all.log_martians = 1
net.ipv4.icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses = 1

# Ignore ICMP redirects
net.ipv4.conf.all.accept_redirects = 0
net.ipv6.conf.all.accept_redirects = 0
net.ipv4.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0 
net.ipv6.conf.default.accept_redirects = 0

# Ignore Directed pings
net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_all = 1
  • To reload sysctl with the latest changes, enter:
sudo sysctl -p

7. Disable Open DNS Recursion and Remove Version Info  - BIND DNS Server.

  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo vi /etc/bind/named.conf.options
  • Add the following to the Options section :
recursion no;
version "Not Disclosed";
  • Restart BIND DNS server. Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo /etc/init.d/bind9 restart

8. Prevent IP Spoofing.

  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo vi /etc/host.conf
  • Add or edit the following lines :
order bind,hosts
nospoof on

9. Harden PHP for security.

  • Edit the php.ini file :
sudo vi /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
  • Add or edit the following lines an save :
disable_functions = exec,system,shell_exec,passthru
register_globals = Off
expose_php = Off
display_errors = Off
track_errors = Off
html_errors = Off
magic_quotes_gpc = Off
  • Restart Apache server. Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

10. Restrict Apache Information Leakage.

  • Edit the Apache2 configuration security file :
sudo vi /etc/apache2/conf.d/security
  • Add or edit the following lines and save :
ServerTokens Prod
ServerSignature Off
TraceEnable Off
Header unset ETag
FileETag None
  • Restart Apache server. Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

11. Web Application Firewall - ModSecurity.

12. Protect from DDOS (Denial of Service) attacks - ModEvasive

13. Scan logs and ban suspicious hosts - DenyHosts and Fail2Ban.

  • DenyHosts is a python program that automatically blocks SSH attacks by adding entries to /etc/hosts.deny. DenyHosts will also inform Linux administrators about offending hosts, attacked users and suspicious logins.
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install denyhosts
  • After installation edit the configuration file /etc/denyhosts.conf  and change the email, and other settings as required.
  • To edit the admin email settings open a terminal window and enter:
sudo vi /etc/denyhosts.conf
  • Change the following values as required on your server :
ADMIN_EMAIL = root@localhost
SMTP_HOST = localhost
SMTP_PORT = 25
#SMTP_USERNAME=foo
#SMTP_PASSWORD=bar
SMTP_FROM = DenyHosts nobody@localhost
#SYSLOG_REPORT=YES 
  • Fail2ban is more advanced than DenyHosts as it extends the log monitoring to other services including SSH, Apache, Courier, FTP, and more.
  • Fail2ban scans log files and bans IPs that show the malicious signs -- too many password failures, seeking for exploits, etc.
  • Generally Fail2Ban then used to update firewall rules to reject the IP addresses for a specified amount of time, although any arbitrary other action could also be configured.
  • Out of the box Fail2Ban comes with filters for various services (apache, courier, ftp, ssh, etc).
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install fail2ban
  • After installation edit the configuration file /etc/fail2ban/jail.local  and create the filter rules as required.
  • To edit the settings open a terminal window and enter:
sudo vi /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf
  • Activate all the services you would like fail2ban to monitor by changing enabled = false to enabled = true
  • For example if you would like to enable the SSH monitoring and banning jail, find the line below and change enabled from false to true. Thats it.
[ssh]

enabled  = true
port     = ssh
filter   = sshd
logpath  = /var/log/auth.log
maxretry = 3
  • If you have selected a non-standard SSH port in step 3 then you need to change the port setting in fail2ban from ssh which by default is port 22, to your new port number, for example if you have chosen 1234 then port = 1234
[ssh]

enabled  = true
port     = <ENTER YOUR SSH PORT NUMBER HERE>
filter   = sshd
logpath  = /var/log/auth.log
maxretry = 3
  • If you would like to receive emails from Fail2Ban if hosts are banned change the following line to your email address.
destemail = root@localhost
  • and change the following line from :
action = %(action_)s
  • to:
action = %(action_mwl)s
  • You can also create rule filters for the various services that you would like fail2ban to monitor that is not supplied by default.
sudo vi /etc/fail2ban/jail.local
  • Good instructions on how to configure fail2ban and create the various filters can be found on HowtoForge - click here for an example
  • When done with the configuration of Fail2Ban restart the service with :
sudo /etc/init.d/fail2ban restart
  • You can also check the status with.
sudo fail2ban-client status

14. Intrusion Detection - PSAD.

  • Cipherdyne PSAD is a collection of three lightweight system daemons that run on Linux machines and analyze iptables log messages to detect port scans and other suspicious traffic.
  • Currently version 2.1 causes errors during install on Ubuntu 12.04, but apparently does work. Version 2.2 resolves these issues but is not yet available on the Ubuntu software repositories. It is recommended to manually compile and install version 2.2 from the source files available on the Ciperdyne website
  • To install the latest version from the source files follow these instruction : How to install PSAD Intrusion Detection on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS server
  • OR install the older version from the Ubuntu software repositories, open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install psad

15. Check for rootkits - RKHunter and CHKRootKit.

  • Both RKHunter and CHKRootkit basically do the same thing - check your system for rootkits. No harm in using both.
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install rkhunter chkrootkit
  • To run chkrootkit open a terminal window and enter :
sudo chkrootkit
  • To update and run RKHunter. Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo rkhunter --update
sudo rkhunter --propupd
sudo rkhunter --check

16. Scan open ports - Nmap.

  • Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source utility for network discovery and security auditing.
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install nmap
  • Scan your system for open ports with :
nmap -v -sT localhost
  • SYN scanning with the following :
sudo nmap -v -sS localhost

17. Analyse system LOG files - LogWatch.

  • Logwatch is a customizable log analysis system. Logwatch parses through your system's logs and creates a report analyzing areas that you specify. Logwatch is easy to use and will work right out of the package on most systems.
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install logwatch libdate-manip-perl
  • To view logwatch output use less :
sudo logwatch | less
  • To email a logwatch report for the past 7 days to an email address, enter the following and replace mail@domain.com with the required email. :
sudo logwatch --mailto mail@domain.com --output mail --format html --range 'between -7 days and today' 

18. SELinux - Apparmor.

  • National Security Agency (NSA) has taken Linux to the next level with the introduction of Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). SELinux takes the existing GNU/Linux operating system and extends it with kernel and user-space modifications to make it bullet-proof.
  • More information can be found here. Ubuntu Server Guide - Apparmor
  • It is installed by default since Ubuntu 7.04. 
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install apparmor apparmor-profiles
  • Check to see if things are running :
sudo apparmor_status

19. Audit your system security - Tiger.

  • Tiger is a security tool that can be use both as a security audit and intrusion detection system.
  • Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo apt-get install tiger
  • To run tiger enter :
sudo tiger
  • All Tiger output can be found in the /var/log/tiger
  • To view the tiger security reports, open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo less /var/log/tiger/security.report.*

Tags: 

Comments

Why do you suggest "magic

Why do you suggest "magic_quotes_gpc = On" ? When you read php.ini comments, it is written that the Off value is for production. Thanks

Thank you for pointing that

Thank you for pointing that out - It should be off, as this feature has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 5.3.0 and REMOVED as of PHP 5.4.0. (see : http://www.php.net/manual/en/security.magicquotes.php)

This is a nice tutorial,

This is a nice tutorial, quick and easy, less explained, thanks for that! What i missed here also is the security of email services like postfix and generally a anti virus tool. I mean use of clamav, postgrey and so on. It would be nice if you spent time to write a part for that ;-) One that i believe is also required for good security is to install suhosin for php. It would be nice if you add it to this guide, and how to configure it with minimal settings. Also speak about disabling/enabling modules in php that are mostly not used, or modules which can be turned off and on for special applications. Another thing i ever see is enabled mods in apache that nobody uses (which can be simply disabled). It would be nice if you speak about what is really needed, and how to disable/enable unused ones. ModEvasive is also not really needed in favour of ModSecurity, which can also do DDoS prevention for you. I did not test the rules of OWASP CRS yet since they are stated as experimental, but they look clear to me. Take a look to file "modsecurity_crs_11_dos_protection". I use similar ones in production environment...

Thank you for the feedback.

Thank you for the feedback. Will look into doing a follow up in the near future. Some good topics to follow up on.

Tank you!!!

Tank you!!!

Hi, excellent post!, I want

Hi, excellent post!, Thank you !

Thankyou

Thankyou

Hi, thanks for this nice

Hi, thanks for this nice security guide!

Absolutely Brilliant. I'm a

Absolutely Brilliant. I'm a linux noob!

It seems that something was

It seems that something was misspelled here. Apache does not recognize 'Header unset Etag'. TraceEnable Off Header unset ETag FileETag None

You need to have the apache

You need to have the apache module headers enabled

I had that problem, too.

I had that problem, too. Just run "sudo a2enmod headers" into a shell and then restart Apache.

Thank you very much for this

Thank you very much for this great guide! I love it! Unfortunately ive encountered a problem with my webserver... right after enabling ufw the time to delivering a pages went up from 1 Second to 7 seconds. This effect disappears if i am disabling ufw... Does anyone encountered a similar effect / has anyone a tip for me what it could be? With kind regards joschi

Thanks for this great

Thanks for this great tutorial! I'm an Ubuntu Fan! A lot of the information you've shared is great for a start up server. You might want to consider giving a small explanation in regards to protection against local attacks as well. Some of the configurations may differ if running both intranet and internet base applications for most major companies such as call centers running ERP or CRM apps. Great job and I'm looking forward to more of your tutorials! :)

AppArmor is not SELinux, it's

AppArmor is not SELinux, it's an alternative to SELinux.

Many thanks! This worked

Many thanks! This worked great on my Ubuntu 13.04 system! I'm hoping you will keep posting updates. :) Thanks for your great tutorial.

Hey, Did you find out a fix

Hey, Did you find out a fix for this? Was UFW the one causing the issue? Thanks!!!

HI there,

HI there, It's tutorial it's awsome, I was thinking to apply to all servers, is it possible to have a redistribute package ? To install and made it by network ? Thanks in advanced.

Thank you very much. It is

Thank you very much. It is very nice handling. But i can't access all my web sites without domain names. Because these sites run on some folder ports. How can i access an edit my web sites. Every sites used to run on port 80. Now the server shows me that "Forbidden You don't have permission to access / on this server." kk please help me. Thanks again.

If you have installed

If you have installed modsecurity then that is probably why you cannot access your sites. The default security rules do not allow sites like Drupal and Wordpress to run without disabling some rules first. See http://www.thefanclub.co.za/how-to/how-disable-modsecurity-rules-drupal-and-wordpress

The best post about Ubuntu

The best post about Ubuntu security on the web, really! Thanks by share your knowledge and experience.

Very comprehensive article,

Very comprehensive article, and much appreciated for the time taken putting it together. I followed all the way down to installation of RKHunter and CHKRootKit, but didn't feel that I would need the few extra components beyond this section. However, it seems that something is now causing my webserver to be serving up "403 Forbidden" response codes when bringing up any site. Any idea what might be causing this, and what action to take to correct?

Hi, see previous comment

Hi, see previous comment about Mod Security. You need to disable some rules for some sites or you will het the 403 message.

A little tip, if you run

A little tip, if you run 'sudo ufw allow ssh' before you do sudo ufw enable, you are less likely to kick yourself out of SSH if that's how you are currently connected.

Great tip flickerfly -

Great tip flickerfly - updated the instructions

Great guide thank you

Great guide thank you

Do most of these things apply

Do most of these things apply to other versions of Ubuntu Server, like 13.10 for example? I may need to use 13.10 over 12.04 to solve an issue.

Yes, it does apply.

Yes, it does apply.

thank you for this excellent

thank you for this excellent guide. my little 2006 era thin client running an owncloud server on 12.04 LTS (on a flash-drive) feels much safer now- great job!

Many thanks for the thorough

Many thanks for the thorough guide - was very useful.

Thanks for the fabulous

Thanks for the fabulous article. With a few tweaks I successfully used it on a 13.10 installation.

Hi really great tutorial!!it

Hi really great tutorial!!it looks really good. I had only some problem: 1. for mod_security i have to download version v2.2.5 and then all works fine 2. After install mod-security my localhost say Forbidden access How i can resolve it? Thanks a lot Leonardo

Thank you very much for these

Thank you very much for these guidelines ! It's thorough and clean. I must however say that the point "2. Secure shared memory" caused my VPS to freeze on boot-time and I spent 5 days tracking the problem (I'm a noob in sysadmin...). Mostly because I did not reboot my machine for 15 days AFTER doing this tutorial so it was difficult to remember all that I had done in between....I went backwards until I hit it. So do not blindely copy each line without comprehending what you are doing (that seems obvious but I'm sure a lot of noobs like me are coming here so I must comment to maybe help others in the future), and I would advise rebooting your machine regularly between changes to ensure that you've not broken anything. You can always use rescue mode afterwards.

Informative article

Informative article, just what I was looking for.

Awesome guide but I have two critiques

Thanks so much for this awesome guide, it's really helpful! Just two things....first, for the firewall I would also mention that controlling access via iptables may also be enough. Also, I was going to change my SSH port but I read this article about why it's a bad idea to do that and changed my mind: https://www.adayinthelifeof.nl/2012/03/12/why-putting-ssh-on-another-port-than-22-is-bad-idea/ Beside that, super neat guide thanx!

init.d replaced by service?

Hi - you might want to note that on recent Ubuntu versions, init.d might not work, in favor of /usr/sbin/service. I found that sshd doesn't (re)start when I used init.d but does when I use service

Thanks it's very useful.

Thanks it's very useful.

Thank

Thank you, it was very helpful.

You saved me! Thank you!

I was in the middle of an attack. The attackers just kept flooding my server until it was becoming unresponsive. I was just searching and searching what to do to protect the server until I found this page, and followed the steps and.. just solved! Everything started to run smoothly like the attackers never existed. Thank you!

Thank you very much...

This is a great tutorial about securing my Ubuntu system.... Thanks a lot for writing and sharing.... God bless Fan club