HighOS hardeningBLWK-KERNEL-004

Address space layout randomization is disabled or partial

What this means

kernel.randomize_va_space is ‹randomize va space›, not 2 (full ASLR). ASLR randomizes where the stack, heap, and shared libraries load in memory — without it (or with only partial randomization), memory-corruption exploits become dramatically easier to write reliably.

How to fix it

Set kernel.randomize_va_space=2 via /etc/sysctl.d/ and run sysctl --system.

Check it yourself

Run a scan and look for BLWK-KERNEL-004 in the results:

bulwark scan

Installed the standalone CLI package instead of the app? The command is bulwarkctl.

How Bulwark decides

Bulwark reads sysctl_kernel and reports this check when:

randomize_va_space != 2

If a value can't be read, Bulwark reports the check as undetermined rather than passing it. View the rule source.

References

• CIS Benchmark 1.5.1
• MITRE ATT&CK T1055

Related checks

• Cron entry runs a downloader piped to a shell · BLWK-ACCT-001
• Password maximum age is excessively long · BLWK-ACCT-002
• Password minimum age is zero · BLWK-ACCT-003
• Password hashing rounds are not explicitly configured · BLWK-ACCT-004
• Default UMASK is not explicitly configured · BLWK-ACCT-005
• A sensitive system file is world-writable · BLWK-FS-001