Specification for the Extensible Configuration Checklist ...

DRAFT NIST Interagency Report 7275 Revision 1 Specification for the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.1.2 Neal Ziring Stephen D. Quinn DRAFT NIST Interagency Report 7275 Specification for the Extensible Revision 1 Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.1.2 Neal Ziring Stephen D. Quinn C O M P U T E R S E C U R I T Y Computer Security Division Information Technology Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 September 2006 U.S. Department of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary Technology Administration Robert C. Cresanti, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology William Jeffrey, Director DRAFT SPECIFICATION FOR THE EXTENSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST DESCRIPTION FORMAT (XCCDF) VERSION 1.1.2 Reports on Computer Systems Technology The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the nation’s measurement and standards infrastructure. ITL develops tests, test methods, reference data, proof of concept implementations, and technical analysis to advance the development and productive use of information technology. ITL’s responsibilities include the development of technical, physical, administrative, and management standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive unclassified information in Federal computer systems. This Interagency Report discusses ITL’s research, guidance, and outreach efforts in computer security and its collaborative activities with industry, government, and academic organizations. National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report 7275 Revision 1 127 pages (September 2006) Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply reco mmendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. iii DRAFT SPECIFICATION FOR THE EXTENSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST DESCRIPTION FORMAT (XCCDF) VERSION 1.1.2 Abstract This document specifies the data model and Extensible Markup Language (XML) representation for the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.1.2. An XCCDF document is a structured collection of security configuration rules for some set of target systems. The XCCDF specification is designed to support information interchange, document generation, organizational and situational tailoring, automated compliance testing, and compliance scoring. The specification also defines a data model and format for storing results of security guidance or checklist compliance testing. The intent of XCCDF is to provide a uniform foundation for expression of security checklists and other configuration guidance, and thereby foster more widespread application of good security practices. iv DRAFT SPECIFICATION FOR THE EXTENSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST DESCRIPTION FORMAT (XCCDF) VERSION 1.1.2 Authority The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed this document in furtherance of its statutory responsibilities under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002, Public Law 107-347. NIST is responsible for developing standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements, for providing adequate information security for all agency operations and assets; but such standards and guidelines shall not apply to national security systems. This guideline is consistent with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Section 8b(3), “Securing Agency Information Systems,” as analyzed in A-130, Appendix IV: Analysis of Key Sections. Supplemental information is provided in A-130, Appendix III. This guideline has been prepared for use by Federal agencies. It may be used by nongovernmental organizations on a voluntary basis and is not subject to copyright, though attribution is desired. Nothing in this document should be taken to contradict standards and guidelines made mandatory and binding on Federal agencies by the Secretary of Commerce under statutory authority, nor should these guidelines be interpreted as altering or superseding the existing authorities of the Secretary of Commerce, Director of the OMB, or any other Federal official. Purpose and Scope The Cyber Security Research and Development Act of 2002 tasks NIST to “develop, and revise as necessary, a checklist setting forth settings and option selections that minimize the security risks associated with each computer hardware or software system that is, or is likely to become widely used within the Federal Government.” Such checklists, when developed correctly, accompanied with automated tools, and leveraged with high-quality security expertise, vendor product knowledge, and operational experience, can markedly reduce the vulnerability exposure of an organization. The XCCDF standardized XML format enables an automated provisioning of recommendations for minimum security controls for information systems categorized in accordance with NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems, and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 199, Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems, to support Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance efforts. To promote the use, standardization, and sharing of effective security checklists, NIST and the National Security Agency (NSA) have collaborated with representatives of private industry to develop the XCCDF specification. The specification is vendor-neutral, flexible, and suited for a wide variety of checklist applications. v DRAFT SPECIFICATION FOR THE EXTENSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST DESCRIPTION FORMAT (XCCDF) VERSION 1.1.2 Audience The primary audience of the XCCDF specification is government and industry security analysts, and industry security management product developers. NIST and NSA welcome feedback from these groups on improving the XCCDF specification. vi DRAFT SPECIFICATION FOR THE EXTENSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST DESCRIPTION FORMAT (XCCDF) VERSION 1.1.2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background..... 2 1.2. Vision for Use................................................................................................................. 2 1.3. Summary of Changes since Version 1.0......................................................................... 3 2. Requirements.......... 6 2.1. Structure and Tailoring Requirements............................................................................ 8 2.2. Inheritance and Inclusion Requirements 9 2.3. Document and Report Formatting Requirements ........................................................... 9 2.4. Rule Checking Requirements ......................................................................................... 9 2.5. Test Results Requirements............................................................................................ 10 2.6. Metadata and Security Requirements ........................................................................... 11 3. Data Model............................................................................................................................ 12 3.1. Benchmark Structure.................................................................................................... 13 3.2. Object Content Details.................................................................................................. 14 3.3. Processing Models........................................................................................................ 32 4. XML Representation............................................................................................................. 42 4.1. XML Document General Considerations ..................................................................... 42 4.2. XML Element Dictionary ............................................................................................. 43 4.3. Handling Text and String Content ................................................................................ 74 5. Conclusions........................................................................................................................... 76 6. Appendix A – XCCDF Schema............................................................................................ 77 7. Appendix B – Sample Benchmark File .............................................................................. 107 8. Appendix C – Pre-Defined URIs ........................................................................................ 114 9. Appendix D – References ................................................................................................... 116 10. Appendix E – Acronym List........................................................................................... 118 vii DRAFT SPECIFICATION FOR THE EXTENSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST DESCRIPTION FORMAT (XCCDF) VERSION 1.1.2 Acknowledgements The authors of this publication, Neal Ziring of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Stephen D. Quinn of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), would like to acknowledge the follo