Profile Applicability:
 • Level 1

Description:
 The firewalld service manages firewall rules dynamically to control network traffic on the system. Ensuring that the firewalld service is enabled and running guarantees active enforcement of firewall policies, enhancing system security.

Rationale:
 Enabling and running the firewalld service ensures that firewall rules are consistently applied and that the system is protected against unauthorized network access.

Impact:
 Pros:

  • Provides active firewall protection and policy enforcement.

  • Supports dynamic updates without service interruption.

Cons:

  • Requires proper firewall rule configuration to be effective.

Default Value:
 The firewalld service may be installed but not enabled or running by default.

Pre-requisites:

  • Root or sudo privileges to manage system services.

Remediation:

Test Plan:

Using Linux command line:

1. Check if firewalld service is enabled:

systemctl is-enabled firewalld

2. Check if firewalld service is running:

systemctl status firewalld

Implementation Plan:

Using Linux command line:

1. Enable the firewalld service:

systemctl enable firewalld

2. Start the firewalld service:

systemctl start firewalld

3. Verify the service status:

systemctl is-enabled firewalld  
systemctl status firewalld

Backout Plan:

Using Linux command line:

1. Disable the firewalld service if needed:

systemctl disable firewalld

2. Stop the firewalld service:

systemctl stop firewalld

3. Verify service status.

References:

  • CIS Amazon Linux 2 Benchmark v3.0.0

  • firewalld Documentation

  • Systemd Service Management