cis-ubuntu2004-v300-2-4-1-1

name	cis-ubuntu2004-v300-2-4-1-1
description	Ensure cron daemon is enabled and active
category	cis-iam
version	3.0.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","ubuntu","linux","ubuntu-20.04","cron","job-schedulers"]
cis_id	2.4.1.1
cis_benchmark	CIS Ubuntu Linux 20.04 LTS Benchmark v3.0.0
tech_stack	["ubuntu","linux"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

Ensure cron daemon is enabled and active

Profile

• Level 1 - Server
• Level 1 - Workstation

Description

The cron daemon is used to execute batch jobs on the system.

Rationale

While there may not be user jobs that need to be run on the system, the system does have maintenance jobs that may include security monitoring that have to run, and cron is used to execute them.

Audit

• IF - cron is installed on the system:

Run the following command to verify cron is enabled:

Command Line

# systemctl list-unit-files | awk '$1~/cron[d]?\.service/{print $2}'

Output:

enabled

Run the following command to verify that cron is active:

# systemctl list-units | awk '$1~/cron[d]?\.service/{print $3}'

Output:

active

Remediation

• IF - cron is installed on the system:

Run the following commands to unmask, enable, and start cron:

Command Line

# systemctl unmask "$(systemctl list-unit-files | awk '$1~/^cron[d]?\.service/{print $1}')"
# systemctl --now enable "$(systemctl list-unit-files | awk '$1~/cron[d]?\.service/{print $1}')"

References

1. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: CM-1, CM-2, CM-6, CM-7, IA-5

CIS Controls

Controls Version	Control	IG 1	IG 2	IG 3
v8	0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped Explicitly Not Mapped
v7	0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped Explicitly Not Mapped

MITRE ATT&CK Mappings

Techniques / Sub-techniques	Tactics	Mitigations
T1562, T1562.001	TA0005	M1018