Special Publication 800-123 Guide to General Server Security Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Karen Scarfone Wayne Jansen Miles Tracy Guide to General Server Security Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Karen Scarfone Wayne Jansen Miles Tracy NIST Special Publication 800-123 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 St andards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 July 2008 U.S. Department of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary National Institute of Standards and Technology James M. Turner, Deputy Director GUIDE TO GENERAL SERVER SECURITY Reports on Computer Systems Technology The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at th e 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 in clude the development of technical, physical, administrative, and management standards and guide lines for the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive unclassified information in Federal computer systems. This Special Publication 800-series reports on ITL’s research, guidance, and outreach efforts in computer security and its collaborative activities with industry, government, and academic organizations. 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 recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessa rily the best available for the purpose. National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-123 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 800-123, 53 pages (Jul. 2008) iiGUIDE TO GENERAL SERVER SECURITY Acknowledgements The authors, Karen Scarfone and Wayne Jansen of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Miles Tracy of Federal Reserve Informa tion Technology, wish to thank their colleagues who reviewed drafts of this document and contributed to its technical content. The authors would like to acknowledge Murugiah Souppaya, Tim Grance, and Jim St . Pierre of NIST, Robert Dutton of Booz Allen Hamilton, and Kurt Dillard for their keen and insi ghtful assistance throughout the development of the document. Special thanks also go to the security experts that provided feedback during the public comment period, particularly Dean Farrington (We lls Fargo), Joseph Klein (Command Information), Dr. Daniel Woodard (The Bionetics Corporation) , and representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration. Much of the content of this publication was deri ved from NIST Special Publication 800-44 Version 2, Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers , by Miles Tracy, Wayne Jansen, Karen Scarfone, and Theodore Winograd, and NIST Special Publication 800-45 Version 2, Guidelines on Electronic Mail Security , by Miles Tracy, Wayne Jansen, Karen Scarfone, and Jason Butterfield. iiiGUIDE TO GENERAL SERVER SECURITY Table of Contents Executive Summary.............................................................................................................. ES-1 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... ...1-1 1.1 Authority..............................................................................