The OpenSCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) project offers an extensive range of hardening guides, configuration baselines, and tools for assessing vulnerabilities and configuration issues, utilizing SCAP as the protocol for storing the foundational data. Created by the open-source community, OpenSCAP hardening allows a selection of a security policy that aligns with an organization’s needs, irrespective of its size.
Understanding the SCAP Standard in 2024
The Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) is a framework that combines various open standards and tools to create a unified approach for security automation, configuration management, patch verification, and compliance. SCAP, which is overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), facilitates the automated enforcement of security policies and configurations across IT systems.
The SCAP Security Guide (SSG) offers comprehensive security policies in the form of SCAP documents, encompassing a wide range of compliance areas. It implements security guidance endorsed by esteemed authorities, including PCI DSS, STIG, and USGCB. The key components of the SSG package include:
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE): serves as a list of publicly known security weaknesses and risks. Each specific vulnerability is recognized through a unique CVE identifier.
- Common Configuration Enumeration (CCE): acts as a guide for typical security setup problems. This resource assigns standardized labels to different system configurations.
- Common Platform Enumeration (CPE): a standardized way to name and recognize hardware, operating systems, and applications. CPE assigns a unique identifier to each system setup.
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS): a structure for evaluating and conveying the features and seriousness of weaknesses and vulnerabilities in software.
- Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL): a standard for presenting weaknesses in systems and applications, as well as configuration problems and fixes. OVAL enables sharing information on security issues and patch solutions.
- Asset Identification (Asset Identification (AI) Standard): It’s a standard for recognizing and organizing assets within a company.
What does OpenSCAP include
OpenScap includes various tools and guides which together help bolster a system’s security. These include:
- OpenScap Library: The OpenSCAP library serves as both a programming library and a command-line tool for parsing and assessing each component of the SCAP standard. This approach enables the rapid development of new SCAP tools, eliminating the need to invest time in understanding the intricacies of existing file structures.
- Base hardening tool: The OpenSCAP Base hardening tool is designed to analyze and evaluate each component of the SCAP standard on various systems and allows you to perform compliance scanning on a single system.
- Command line tool: The command-line tool, known as Oscap, serves as a versatile tool capable of formatting content into documents or scanning the system based on the provided content. With the Oscap tool you can perform configuration and vulnerability scans, validate your SCAP content in line with SCAP standard XML schemas, display basic information about your content, or list profiles in an XCCDF benchmark.
- OpenScap Toolkit: OpenSCAP toolkit is a set of open-source tools that implements and enforces the SCAP Standard for hardening. However, OpenSCAP is not a silver bullet and has some limitations. For example, it can be difficult to use for non-technical users, and it may not be suitable for all types of IT systems. Additionally, OpenSCAP may not be as comprehensive as recognized security solutions like CalCom Hardening Suite (CHS).
- OpenScap Vulnerability scan: An OpenSCAP vulnerability scan refers to the process of using the OpenSCAP tool to identify and assess vulnerabilities within a system or network. It aims to determine the security impact and consequences of each detected vulnerability, such as remote code execution, privilege escalation, excessive resource consumption, denial of service, etc.
One of oscap’s valuable features is its ability to generate reports in a human-readable HTML format and making system scans into readable result reports. This is particularly useful for creating security guides and checklists, which provide both information and guidance for secure system configuration.
To generate a HTML guide from an SCAP source data stream or an XCCDF file use the oscap xccdf generate guide command.
OpenSCAP vs CIS Benchmarks
OpenSCAP and Center for Internet Security (CIS) serve different roles, with OpenSCAP focusing on SCAP standards, and CIS providing detailed benchmarks for securing IT systems. They can be used together to enhance overall cybersecurity. OpenSCAP is a tool that can be used to implement the CIS benchmarks for hardening. Since the CIS benchmarks are a set of guidelines to secure IT systems they are widely used in the industry.
OpenSCAP OS compatibility
OpenSCAP is available on Microsoft Windows and various operating systems. OpenSCAP is well-supported on Linux-based systems, and it is commonly used on distributions such as:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
- Fedora
- Debian
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)
- Other Linux Distributions
- UNIX
How much does OpenSCAP cost
OpenSCAP is freely accessible on any platform, just like the CIS Benchmarks. The OpenSCAP project offers tools that are unrestricted in use and can be downloaded and utilized freely. All projects affiliated with OpenSCAP are open source and available for free download and use.
What is the difference between OpenSCAP and OpenVAS?
Both OpenSCAP and OpenVAS contribute to the overall security posture of an organization and are both open-source security tools, but they serve different purposes within the realm of cybersecurity. Here are the key differences between OpenSCAP and OpenVAS:
| OpenSCAP | OpenVAS | |
| Purpose | It is primarily focused on automating security compliance checks, configuration management, and vulnerability management. OpenSCAP is often used to ensure that systems adhere to security policies and standards. | It is a vulnerability scanner designed to identify and assess security vulnerabilities in networks and systems. OpenVAS is more oriented towards actively scanning and finding vulnerabilities within the target environment. |
| Functionality | It provides capabilities for configuration compliance checks, measuring security posture, and ensuring that systems are configured securely. It often works with predefined security baselines and policies. | It conducts comprehensive vulnerability scans, checking for known security issues, misconfigurations, and potential weaknesses. It helps organizations identify and prioritize vulnerabilities for remediation. |
| Components | It includes a set of open standards and tools that support automated security configuration checks, vulnerability assessments, and compliance activities. OpenSCAP integrates with the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) standards. | It consists of a network vulnerability scanner that performs configuration and vulnerability scans on target systems to identify vulnerabilities. OpenVAS includes a database of known vulnerabilities and is often used for penetration testing and security assessments. |
| Integration | It is often integrated into security and compliance management frameworks, allowing organizations to automate and standardize security-related tasks. | It can be integrated into larger security management processes and frameworks, and its results can be used to guide remediation efforts. |
OpenSCAP hardening Steps
Here are the general steps to perform OpenSCAP hardening:
- Install OpenSCAP:
- Ensure that OpenSCAP is installed on your system. You can typically install it using your system’s package manager.
- Download Security Content:
- Obtain the SCAP Security Guide content for your specific operating system. This content includes security policies and benchmarks that define the secure configuration for the system.
- Select a Profile:
- OpenSCAP uses profiles to determine the set of security rules to apply. Choose a profile that matches your security requirements. Common profiles include
common,server, anddesktop. Each profile has a different set of rules for system hardening.
- OpenSCAP uses profiles to determine the set of security rules to apply. Choose a profile that matches your security requirements. Common profiles include
- Scan the System:
- Use the
oscapcommand-line tool to perform a security scan on your system. This tool will evaluate your system against the selected security profile.oscap xccdf eval --profile <profile> --report <output-report-file> <path-to-security-content>
- Use the
- Remediate Findings:
- Review the scan results to identify security vulnerabilities and non-compliance issues. Develop a plan to remediate these findings, addressing each issue according to the security guidelines.
- Apply Remediations:
- Use the
oscaptool to apply remediations based on the security content. This may involve modifying configuration files, installing or removing packages, and making other system changes.oscap xccdf remediate --profile <profile> --result-id <result-id> <path-to-security-content>
- Use the
- Re-scan the System:
- After applying remediations, re-scan the system to ensure that the changes were effective in addressing security vulnerabilities and achieving compliance.
- Automate with CHS:
- OpenSCAP needs to be integrated with automation tools for scanning and remediation. CHS can automate the entire hardening process while the operating systems remain constantly monitored and streamlined across multiple servers.
- Regularly Update and Review:
- Security policies and benchmarks change over time. Regularly update your security content and review your system configurations to ensure ongoing compliance with the latest security standards.
- Documentation:
- Document the hardening process, including the security content used, chosen profiles, and any deviations made to meet specific system requirements. This documentation is valuable for audits and future reference.
OpenSCAP vs CHS
CHS (CalCom Hardening Suite) performs configuration and vulnerability hardening to complex infrastructures to minimize attack surfaces and achieve compliance. It eliminates outages and reduces hardening costs by indicating the impact of a security hardening change on production services. It ensures a resilient, constantly hardened, and monitored server environment.
