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Community Blog How to Install Lynis on Ubuntu 16.04

How to Install Lynis on Ubuntu 16.04

In this tutorial, we will be installing and configuring Lynis on an Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Ubuntu 16.04 server.

By Hitesh Jethva, Alibaba Cloud Tech Share Author. Tech Share is Alibaba Cloud's incentive program to encourage the sharing of technical knowledge and best practices within the cloud community.

Lynis is a free and open source host-based auditing tool for unix like operating system that can be used to scan the entire systems installed and available software information, security information, user accounts without password, wrong file permissions, firewall auditing, etc. Lynis is one of the most powerful and useful tool for auditors, network and system administrators and penetration testers. You can easily test, scan and detect the vulnerability in linux-based systems using Lynis. Lynis does not harden your system automatically. But it will suggestions and security related warning to increase the security of the system. Lynis supports many Operating Systems, such as AIX, Ubuntu, Centos, FreeBSD, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, kali, NetBSD, RHEL, OpenBSD, OpenSolaris, TrueOS and many more. You can audit MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Apache, Nginx, and NTP using Lynis. Lynis works by detecting operating system, search for available tools, check for Lynis update, then run tests from available plugins and reports the status of security scan.

In this tutorial, we will be installing and configuring Lynis on an Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Ubuntu 16.04 server.

Requirements

  • A fresh Alibaba Cloud Ubuntu 16.04 instance.
  • A root password is set up to your instance.

Launch Alibaba Cloud ECS Instance

First, Login to your Alibaba Cloud ECS Console. Create a new ECS instance, choosing Ubuntu 16.04 as the operating system with at least 2GB RAM. Connect to your ECS instance and log in as the root user.

Once you are logged into your Ubuntu 16.04 instance, run the following command to update your base system with the latest available packages.

apt-get update -y

Install Lynis

By default, the latest version of Lynis is not available in the Ubuntu 16.04 default repository. So, you will need to add the Lynis's software repository to your system.

First, enable the HTTPS support for the package manager by running the following command:

apt-get install apt-transport-https -y

Next, install the public key for Lynis repository with the following command:

apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys C80E383C3DE9F082E01391A0366C67DE91CA5D5F

Output:

Executing: /tmp/tmp.8ZeQkIekLY/gpg.1.sh --keyserver
keyserver.ubuntu.com
--recv-keys
C80E383C3DE9F082E01391A0366C67DE91CA5D5F
gpg: requesting key 91CA5D5F from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key 91CA5D5F: public key "CISOfy Software (signed software packages) <software@cisofy.com>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

Next, add the Lynis repository with the following command:

add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.cisofy.com/community/lynis/deb/ xenial main"

Next, update the repository and install Lynis with the following command:

apt-get update -y
apt-get install lynis -y

Working with Lynis

First, run the lynis without any option. It will provides the list of available parameters as shown below:

lynis

Output:

[ Lynis 2.7.0 ]

################################################################################
  Lynis comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are
  welcome to redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
  See the LICENSE file for details about using this software.

  2007-2018, CISOfy - https://cisofy.com/lynis/
  Enterprise support available (compliance, plugins, interface and tools)
################################################################################


[+] Initializing program
------------------------------------


  Usage: lynis command [options]


  Command:

    audit
        audit system                  : Perform local security scan
        audit system remote <host>    : Remote security scan
        audit dockerfile <file>       : Analyze Dockerfile

    show
        show                          : Show all commands
        show version                  : Show Lynis version
        show help                     : Show help

    update
        update info                   : Show update details


  Options:

    --no-log                          : Don't create a log file
    --pentest                         : Non-privileged scan (useful for pentest)
    --profile <profile>               : Scan the system with the given profile file
    --quick (-Q)                      : Quick mode, don't wait for user input

    Layout options
    --no-colors                       : Don't use colors in output
    --quiet (-q)                      : No output
    --reverse-colors                  : Optimize color display for light backgrounds

    Misc options
    --debug                           : Debug logging to screen
    --view-manpage (--man)            : View man page
    --verbose                         : Show more details on screen
    --version (-V)                    : Display version number and quit

    Enterprise options
    --plugindir <path>                : Define path of available plugins
    --upload                          : Upload data to central node

You can run the following command to list all the command available with lynis:

lynis show commands

Output:

Commands:
lynis audit
lynis configure
lynis show
lynis update
lynis upload-only

Now, scan your entire Linux system by running the following command:

lynis audit system

You should see the following output:

[ Lynis 2.7.0 ]

################################################################################
  Lynis comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are
  welcome to redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
  See the LICENSE file for details about using this software.

  2007-2018, CISOfy - https://cisofy.com/lynis/
  Enterprise support available (compliance, plugins, interface and tools)
################################################################################


[+] Initializing program
------------------------------------
  - Detecting OS...                                           [ DONE ]
  - Checking profiles...                                      [ DONE ]

  ---------------------------------------------------
  Program version:           2.7.0
  Operating system:          Linux
  Operating system name:     Ubuntu Linux
  Operating system version:  16.04
  Kernel version:            4.4.0
  Hardware platform:         x86_64
  Hostname:                  Node1
  ---------------------------------------------------
  Profiles:                  /etc/lynis/default.prf
  Log file:                  /var/log/lynis.log
  Report file:               /var/log/lynis-report.dat
  Report version:            1.0
  Plugin directory:          /usr/share/lynis/plugins
  ---------------------------------------------------
  Auditor:                   [Not Specified]
  Language:                  en
  Test category:             all
  Test group:                all
  ---------------------------------------------------
  - Program update status...                                  [ NO UPDATE ]

[+] System Tools
------------------------------------
  - Scanning available tools...
  - Checking system binaries...

[+] Plugins (phase 1)
------------------------------------
 Note: plugins have more extensive tests and may take several minutes to complete
  
  - Plugins enabled                                           [ NONE ]

[+] Boot and services
------------------------------------
  - Service Manager                                           [ upstart ]
  - Checking UEFI boot                                        [ DISABLED ]
  - Checking presence GRUB2                                   [ FOUND ]
    - Checking for password protection                        [ WARNING ]
  - Check running services (systemctl)                        [ DONE ]
        Result: found 21 running services
  - Check enabled services at boot (systemctl)                [ DONE ]
        Result: found 26 enabled services
  - Check startup files (permissions)                         [ OK ]

[+] Kernel
------------------------------------
  - Checking default run level                                [ RUNLEVEL 5 ]
  - Checking CPU support (NX/PAE)
    CPU support: PAE and/or NoeXecute supported               [ FOUND ]
  - Checking kernel version and release                       [ DONE ]
  - Checking kernel type                                      [ DONE ]
  - Checking loaded kernel modules                            [ DONE ]
      Found 43 active modules
  - Checking Linux kernel configuration file                  [ FOUND ]
  - Checking default I/O kernel scheduler                     [ FOUND ]
  - Checking for available kernel update                      [ OK ]
  - Checking core dumps configuration                         [ DISABLED ]
    - Checking setuid core dumps configuration                [ PROTECTED ]
  - Check if reboot is needed                                 [ NO ]

[+] Memory and Processes
------------------------------------
  - Checking /proc/meminfo                                    [ FOUND ]
  - Searching for dead/zombie processes                       [ OK ]
  - Searching for IO waiting processes                        [ OK ]

[+] Users, Groups and Authentication
------------------------------------
  - Administrator accounts                                    [ OK ]
  - Unique UIDs                                               [ OK ]
  - Consistency of group files (grpck)                        [ OK ]
  - Unique group IDs                                          [ OK ]
  - Unique group names                                        [ OK ]
  - Password file consistency                                 [ OK ]
  - Query system users (non daemons)                          [ DONE ]
  - NIS+ authentication support                               [ NOT ENABLED ]
  - NIS authentication support                                [ NOT ENABLED ]
  - sudoers file                                              [ FOUND ]
    - Check sudoers file permissions                          [ OK ]
  - PAM password strength tools                               [ SUGGESTION ]
  - PAM configuration files (pam.conf)                        [ FOUND ]
  - PAM configuration files (pam.d)                           [ FOUND ]
  - PAM modules                                               [ FOUND ]
  - LDAP module in PAM                                        [ NOT FOUND ]
  - Accounts without expire date                              [ OK ]
  - Accounts without password                                 [ OK ]
  - Checking user password aging (minimum)                    [ DISABLED ]
  - User password aging (maximum)                             [ DISABLED ]
  - Checking expired passwords                                [ OK ]
  - Checking Linux single user mode authentication            [ OK ]
  - Determining default umask
    - umask (/etc/profile)                                    [ NOT FOUND ]
    - umask (/etc/login.defs)                                 [ SUGGESTION ]
    - umask (/etc/init.d/rc)                                  [ SUGGESTION ]
  - LDAP authentication support                               [ NOT ENABLED ]
  - Logging failed login attempts                             [ ENABLED ]

[+] Shells
------------------------------------
  - Checking shells from /etc/shells
    Result: found 6 shells (valid shells: 6).
    - Session timeout settings/tools                          [ NONE ]
  - Checking default umask values
    - Checking default umask in /etc/bash.bashrc              [ NONE ]
    - Checking default umask in /etc/profile                  [ NONE ]

[+] File systems
------------------------------------
  - Checking mount points
    - Checking /home mount point                              [ SUGGESTION ]
    - Checking /tmp mount point                               [ SUGGESTION ]
    - Checking /var mount point                               [ SUGGESTION ]
  - Checking LVM volume groups                                [ FOUND ]
    - Checking LVM volumes                                    [ FOUND ]
  - Query swap partitions (fstab)                             [ OK ]
  - Testing swap partitions                                   [ OK ]
  - Testing /proc mount (hidepid)                             [ SUGGESTION ]
  - Checking for old files in /tmp                            [ OK ]
  - Checking /tmp sticky bit                                  [ OK ]
  - Checking /var/tmp sticky bit                              [ OK ]
  - ACL support root file system                              [ ENABLED ]
  - Mount options of /                                        [ NON DEFAULT ]
  - Mount options of /boot                                    [ NON DEFAULT ]
  - Checking Locate database                                  [ FOUND ]
  - Disable kernel support of some filesystems
    - Discovered kernel modules: cramfs freevxfs hfs hfsplus jffs2 udf 

[+] USB Devices
------------------------------------
  - Checking usb-storage driver (modprobe config)             [ NOT DISABLED ]
  - Checking USB devices authorization                        [ ENABLED ]
  - Checking USBGuard                                         [ NOT FOUND ]

[+] Storage
------------------------------------
  - Checking firewire ohci driver (modprobe config)           [ DISABLED ]

[+] NFS
------------------------------------
  - Query rpc registered programs                             [ DONE ]
  - Query NFS versions                                        [ DONE ]
  - Query NFS protocols                                       [ DONE ]
  - Check running NFS daemon                                  [ NOT FOUND ]


================================================================================

  Lynis security scan details:

  Hardening index : 55 [###########         ]
  Tests performed : 224
  Plugins enabled : 0

  Components:
  - Firewall               [X]
  - Malware scanner        [X]

  Lynis Modules:
  - Compliance Status      [?]
  - Security Audit         [V]
  - Vulnerability Scan     [V]

  Files:
  - Test and debug information      : /var/log/lynis.log
  - Report data                     : /var/log/lynis-report.dat

================================================================================

  Lynis 2.7.0

  Auditing, system hardening, and compliance for UNIX-based systems
  (Linux, macOS, BSD, and others)

  2007-2018, CISOfy - https://cisofy.com/lynis/
  Enterprise support available (compliance, plugins, interface and tools)

================================================================================

  [TIP]: Enhance Lynis audits by adding your settings to custom.prf (see /etc/lynis/default.prf for all settings)

The above command will write the scanning result in the /var/log/lynis.log file. You can see the scanning result later by running the following command:

cat /var/log/lynis.log

Run Lynis with Groups

Running "lynis audit system" command generates lot's of output. You can also scan linux system by groups to scan and harden the specific service. You can list all the groups with the following command:

lynis show groups

Output:

accounting
authentication
banners
boot_services
containers
crypto
databases
dns
file_integrity
file_permissions
filesystems
firewalls
hardening
homedirs
insecure_services
kernel
kernel_hardening
ldap
logging
mac_frameworks
mail_messaging
malware
memory_processes
nameservices
networking
php
ports_packages
printers_spools
scheduling
shells
snmp
squid
ssh
storage
storage_nfs
system_integrity
time
tooling
usb
virtualization
webservers

Now, run the following command to scan SSH service:

lynis  --tests-from-group ssh

You should see the following output:

[ Lynis 2.7.0 ]

################################################################################
  Lynis comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are
  welcome to redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
  See the LICENSE file for details about using this software.

  2007-2018, CISOfy - https://cisofy.com/lynis/
  Enterprise support available (compliance, plugins, interface and tools)
################################################################################


[+] SSH Support
------------------------------------
  - Checking running SSH daemon                               [ FOUND ]
    - Searching SSH configuration                             [ FOUND ]
    - SSH option: AllowTcpForwarding                          [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: ClientAliveCountMax                         [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: ClientAliveInterval                         [ OK ]
    - SSH option: Compression                                 [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: FingerprintHash                             [ OK ]
    - SSH option: GatewayPorts                                [ OK ]
    - SSH option: IgnoreRhosts                                [ OK ]
    - SSH option: LoginGraceTime                              [ OK ]
    - SSH option: LogLevel                                    [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: MaxAuthTries                                [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: MaxSessions                                 [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: PermitRootLogin                             [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: PermitUserEnvironment                       [ OK ]
    - SSH option: PermitTunnel                                [ OK ]
    - SSH option: Port                                        [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: PrintLastLog                                [ OK ]
    - SSH option: StrictModes                                 [ OK ]
    - SSH option: TCPKeepAlive                                [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: UseDNS                                      [ OK ]
    - SSH option: VerifyReverseMapping                        [ NOT FOUND ]
    - SSH option: X11Forwarding                               [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: AllowAgentForwarding                        [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: Protocol                                    [ OK ]
    - SSH option: UsePrivilegeSeparation                      [ SUGGESTION ]
    - SSH option: AllowUsers                                  [ NOT FOUND ]
    - SSH option: AllowGroups                                 [ NOT FOUND ]

[+] Custom Tests
------------------------------------
  - Running custom tests...                                   [ NONE ]

[+] Plugins (phase 2)
------------------------------------

================================================================================

  -[ Lynis 2.7.0 Results ]-

  Great, no warnings

  Suggestions (12):
  ----------------------------
  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : AllowTcpForwarding (YES --> NO)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : ClientAliveCountMax (3 --> 2)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : Compression (DELAYED --> NO)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : LogLevel (INFO --> VERBOSE)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : MaxAuthTries (6 --> 2)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : MaxSessions (10 --> 2)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : PermitRootLogin (YES --> (NO|PROHIBIT-PASSWORD|WITHOUT-PASSWORD))
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : Port (22 --> )
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : TCPKeepAlive (YES --> NO)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : X11Forwarding (YES --> NO)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : AllowAgentForwarding (YES --> NO)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  * Consider hardening SSH configuration [SSH-7408] 
    - Details  : UsePrivilegeSeparation (YES --> SANDBOX)
      https://cisofy.com/lynis/controls/SSH-7408/

  Follow-up:
  ----------------------------
  - Show details of a test (lynis show details TEST-ID)
  - Check the logfile for all details (less /var/log/lynis.log)
  - Read security controls texts (https://cisofy.com)
  - Use --upload to upload data to central system (Lynis Enterprise users)

================================================================================

  Lynis security scan details:

  Hardening index : 51 [##########          ]
  Tests performed : 6
  Plugins enabled : 0

  Components:
  - Firewall               [X]
  - Malware scanner        [X]

  Lynis Modules:
  - Compliance Status      [?]
  - Security Audit         [V]
  - Vulnerability Scan     [V]

  Files:
  - Test and debug information      : /var/log/lynis.log
  - Report data                     : /var/log/lynis-report.dat

================================================================================

  Lynis 2.7.0

  Auditing, system hardening, and compliance for UNIX-based systems
  (Linux, macOS, BSD, and others)

  2007-2018, CISOfy - https://cisofy.com/lynis/
  Enterprise support available (compliance, plugins, interface and tools)

================================================================================

  [TIP]: Enhance Lynis audits by adding your settings to custom.prf (see /etc/lynis/default.prf for all settings)

Update Lynis

You can also update or upgrade Lynis version by running the following command:

lynis update info

Output:

 == Lynis ==

  Version            : 2.7.0
  Status             : Up-to-date
  Release date       : 2018-10-26
  Update location    : https://cisofy.com/lynis/


2007-2018, CISOfy - https://cisofy.com/lynis/

You can also run the following command to check the Lynis update:

lynis update check

Output:

status=up-to-date

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Lynis on Ubuntu 16.04 server. I hope you can now easily figure out security issues in your Linux system.

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