Q1 answer :

Q2 answer:
UNSAFE: This status indicates that a particular service or configuration poses a significant
security risk. It signifies a serious vulnerability or weakness that should be addressed
immediately to avoid potential security breaches.

MEDIUM: The medium status state suggests that there might be a security concern or
misconfiguration that requires attention. It signifies a moderate-level vulnerability that could
be exploited under certain circumstances.

EXPOSED: When a service is marked as exposed, it means that it is accessible from

external networks or potentially accessible by unauthorized entities. Exposed services should
be evaluated carefully and secured to prevent unauthorized access.

SUGGESTION: This status state provides suggestions or recommendations for improving

the security posture of the system. It may point out best practices, configuration tweaks, or
additional security measures that can be implemented to enhance system security.
FOUND: When Lynis reports a status as "FOUND," it means that a specific item,
vulnerability, or configuration setting has been detected or identified. It implies that the
associated item has been found on the system and should be reviewed or addressed as
necessary.

NOT FOUND: This status indicates that a particular item, vulnerability, or configuration
setting was not found during the audit. In some cases, not being found can be a positive
result, indicating that the system is properly configured or that a particular vulnerability is not
present.

HARDENED: When a service or configuration is marked as hardened, it means that it has

been secured and configured with best practices or security measures in place. This status
implies that the associated item has already been addressed adequately from a security
perspective.

PARTIALLY HARDENED: This status signifies that a service or configuration is partially

secured or hardened but still requires further attention. It suggests that some security
measures have been implemented, but additional steps are needed to ensure complete
security.

PROTECTED: The protected status indicates that a service or configuration is adequately

protected and has security measures in place to mitigate potential risks or vulnerabilities.

ACTIVE: The active status implies that a particular service or configuration is currently
running or enabled on the system. It signifies that the associated item is actively providing its
intended functionality.

Q3 : 40 suggestion
Q4 : Determine runlevel and services at startup [BOOT-5180]:

Solution: Run the appropriate commands or tools on your system to determine the runlevel
and services that start during system boot. In Linux, you can use commands such as
runlevel, systemctl, or service to gather information about the runlevel and the services that
are set to start during boot. Ensure that only necessary and essential services are running at
startup, reducing the attack surface and improving system performance.
Consider hardening system services [BOOT-5264]:

Solution: For each service running on your system, run the command /usr/bin/systemd-
analyze security SERVICE where "SERVICE" should be replaced with the name of each
service. This command will analyze the security of the specified service and provide
recommendations for hardening. Follow the suggestions provided and implement the
necessary security measures to harden your system services.
Determine why /vmlinuz or /boot/vmlinuz is missing on this Debian/Ubuntu system [KRNL-
5788]:

Solution: The control KRNL-5788 indicates that the /vmlinuz or /boot/vmlinuz file is missing
on your Debian/Ubuntu system. These files are important components of the kernel and their
absence could indicate a potential misconfiguration or issue. You should investigate why
these files are missing and take appropriate steps to ensure the integrity of your kernel. This
may involve reinstalling the kernel or verifying the configuration of your bootloader.

TASK 3
Q1:
Q2 : (TASK 3)
The `/etc/passwd` file and the `/etc/shadow` file are both important files in Linux systems that
store user account information. Here's what you can find in each file and the difference
between them:

1. `/etc/passwd` file:
- The `/etc/passwd` file is a plaintext file that contains essential information about user
accounts on the system.
- Each line in the file represents a user account and is structured in a colon-separated
format with several fields.
- The fields in the `/etc/passwd` file typically include:
- Username: The unique name associated with the user account.
- Password: Historically, this field used to store encrypted passwords. However, modern
systems store an 'x' character in this field, indicating that the actual password is stored in the
`/etc/shadow` file (for security reasons).
- User ID (UID): A numerical identifier assigned to each user account.
- Group ID (GID): The numerical identifier of the primary group associated with the user
account.
- User Information: Additional information about the user, such as full name, home
directory, and default shell.

2. `/etc/shadow` file:
- The `/etc/shadow` file is a restricted file that stores the encrypted passwords and other
security-related information for user accounts.
- The `/etc/shadow` file is readable only by the system's root user or a privileged account.
- Each line in the `/etc/shadow` file corresponds to a user account and is structured in a
colon-separated format with several fields.
- The fields in the `/etc/shadow` file typically include:
- Username: The same as the corresponding entry in the `/etc/passwd` file.
- Password: The encrypted password for the user account.
- Last password change: The number of days since the password was last changed.
- Minimum password age: The minimum number of days required before a password can
be changed.
- Maximum password age: The maximum number of days before the password expires.
- Password warning period: The number of days before the password expiration that a
warning is displayed.
- Account inactive period: The number of days after the password expiration before the
account is disabled.
- Account expiration date: The date when the account will be automatically disabled.

Difference between `/etc/passwd` and `/etc/shadow` files:

- The `/etc/passwd` file contains general user account information, while the `/etc/shadow`
file stores the encrypted passwords and other security-related settings.
- The passwords themselves are stored in the `/etc/shadow` file and not in `/etc/passwd` for
better security. The `/etc/passwd` file only includes an 'x' character in the password field,
indicating that the actual password is stored in the shadow file.
- The `/etc/passwd` file is readable by all users on the system, while the `/etc/shadow` file is
restricted and can only be accessed by privileged accounts.
- The `/etc/passwd` file can be used to obtain basic user information, while the `/etc/shadow`
file is critical for password management, including password expiration, account locking, and
other security-related features.

TASK 2

steghide version 0.5.1

the first argument must be one of the following:

embed, --embed embed data
extract, --extract extract data
info, --info display information about a cover- or stego-file
info <filename> display information about <filename>
encinfo, --encinfo display a list of supported encryption algorithms
version, --version display version information
license, --license display steghide's license
help, --help display this usage information

embedding options:
-ef, --embedfile select file to be embedded
-ef <filename> embed the file <filename>
-cf, --coverfile select cover-file
-cf <filename> embed into the file <filename>
-p, --passphrase specify passphrase
-p <passphrase> use <passphrase> to embed data
-sf, --stegofile select stego file
-sf <filename> write result to <filename> instead of cover-file
-e, --encryption select encryption parameters
-e <a>[<m>]|<m>[<a>] specify an encryption algorithm and/or mode
-e none do not encrypt data before embedding
-z, --compress compress data before embedding (default)
-z <l> using level <l> (1 best speed...9 best compression)
-Z, --dontcompress do not compress data before embedding
-K, --nochecksum do not embed crc32 checksum of embedded data
-N, --dontembedname do not embed the name of the original file
-f, --force overwrite existing files
-q, --quiet suppress information messages
-v, --verbose display detailed information

extracting options:
-sf, --stegofile select stego file
-sf <filename> extract data from <filename>
-p, --passphrase specify passphrase
-p <passphrase> use <passphrase> to extract data
-xf, --extractfile select file name for extracted data
 -xf <filename> write the extracted data to <filename>
-f, --force overwrite existing files
-q, --quiet suppress information messages
-v, --verbose display detailed information

options for the info command:

-p, --passphrase specify passphrase
-p <passphrase> use <passphrase> to get info about embedded data

To embed emb.txt in cvr.jpg: steghide embed -cf cvr.jpg -ef emb.txt

To extract embedded data from stg.jpg: steghide extract -sf stg.jpg

Let's break down each command and explain what it does:

1. `chmod go+x gbill`:

- This command changes the permissions of the file named "gbill" to add execute (x)
permission for the group (g) and others (o).
- The "go" specifies that the changes should apply to both the group and others.
 - The "+x" adds the execute permission to the specified groups, allowing them to execute
(run) the file if it is a script or a binary executable.

2. `cd gbill`:
- This command changes the current working directory to a directory named "gbill" if it
exists within the current directory.
- The "cd" command is used to navigate into directories.

3. `chmod go-x gbill`:

- This command changes the permissions of the file named "gbill" to remove execute (x)
permission for the group (g) and others (o).
- The "go" specifies that the changes should apply to both the group and others.
- The "-x" removes the execute permission from the specified groups, preventing them from
executing (running) the file as a script or binary executable.

4. `cd gbill`:
- This command attempts to change the current working directory to a directory named
"gbill" within the current directory.
- However, if the previous `cd gbill` command was unsuccessful or if the "gbill" directory
does not exist, this command will result in an error.

To enable or disable read and write permissions for a group using the chmod command, you
can use the following commands:

To enable read and write permissions for the group:

```
chmod g+rw filename
```
This command adds read (r) and write (w) permissions to the group for the specified file. The
"g" indicates that the changes apply to the group, and "+rw" adds the read and write
permissions.

To disable read and write permissions for the group:

chmod g-rw filename

This command removes read (r) and write (w) permissions from the group for the specified
file. The "g" indicates that the changes apply to the group, and "-rw" removes the read and
write permissions.

Replace "filename" with the actual name of the file for which you want to modify the
permissions.
To determine the permissions for "other" users to access a directory, you can look at the
output of the `ls -ld */` command. In the output, the permissions for "other" users are
represented by the third set of characters. Here's how you can interpret the permissions:

- The permissions for a directory are represented by a 10-character string.

- The first character indicates the type of the entry (e.g., "d" for directory).
- The next three characters represent the permissions for the owner of the directory.
- The following three characters represent the permissions for the group associated with the
directory.
- The last three characters represent the permissions for "other" users or users not belonging
to the owner group.

Each set of three characters represents the read (r), write (w), and execute (x) permissions,
respectively. The absence of a particular permission is indicated by a hyphen (-).

For example, let's consider the output of the `ls -ld */` command:

drwxr-xr-x 2 user group 4096 Jul 7 10:00 directory/

In this example, the permissions for "other" users to access the directory are `r-x`. This
means that "other" users have read and execute permissions, but they do not have write
permission.
As the first user, running the command `touch bgates.txt` in the second user's directory will
likely result in an error, depending on the permissions set on the second user's directory.
The ability to create a file in another user's directory depends on the permissions of that
directory. The minimum permission needed for the first user to create a file in the second
user's directory is write (w) permission on that directory.

By default, in most Linux systems, a user's home directory has permissions such as `drwxr-
xr-x` (755), where the owner has read, write, and execute permissions, while the group and
other users have read and execute permissions only. In this case, the first user (not being
the owner or part of the group) does not have write permission on the second user's
directory. Therefore, attempting to create a file in that directory will result in a "Permission
denied" error.

To allow the first user to create a file in the second user's directory, the owner of the directory
or a user with sufficient privileges needs to grant write permission to the first user by using
the `chmod` command or modifying the directory's ownership or group permissions.