Vendor Provided Validation Details - LANDesk Security Suite 9.0 Extensions for Federal Desktops 3.2.1.46

The following text was provided by the vendor during testing to describe how the product implements the specific capabilities.

SCAP Implementation

LANDesk Security Suite 9.0 Extensions for Federal Desktops (LDSS-FDCC) are built around support for the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). SCAP is a collection of six open standards developed jointly by the government and private sector. Security content written to the SCAP standard can by used by any product that supports the standard. This allows regulatory authorities and configuration managers a means to construct much more definitive guidance than was possible in the past. The guidance is written in the standard format and passed to security products for automated processing and reporting; common input and common output. LDSS-FDCC includes support for all six protocols. It uses the XCCDF and OVAL assessment protocols to determine what items to check and how to check them. It uses the CPE, CCE, CVSS, and CVE reference protocols to ensure all rules are accurately and appropriately reflected in the system. The SCAP standard references are visible in the reports and export files.

Exports provided by the LDSS-FDCC include the Tiger.xml format. This format was developed to insulate users and administrators from the intricacies and evolutions of the SCAP languages. Tiger was designed to give any product a fast track to SCAP compatibility and validation.

CVE Implementation

LDSS-FDCC includes support for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) names. CVE provides standardized references to known vulnerabilities. This unique identifier provides a common way to refer to vulnerabilities. CVE is the oldest of the six protocols and is directed at vulnerabilities rather than compliance items. Patch content can optionally refer to CVE names, allowing the end user to track attack vectors associated with missing patches. The XCCDF and OVAL compliance checks currently do not reference CVE names. LDSS-FDCC raises the CVE references from the SCAP patch content to populate the XML exports, which are then viewable in the browser. The CVE name is included in references section of the LDSS-FDCC XSL transform. For each patch check listed in the tree. LDSS-FDCC can also perform vulnerability assessments using the included Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL) content. The References section includes the CVE name and a link to the NVD site for each CVE name.

CCE Implementation

LDSS-FDCC includes support for Common Configuration Enumeration (CCE) references. CCE provides a standard notation and reference for configuration settings. The SCAP data stream contains CCE tags in the XCCDF documents. LDSS-FDCC raises the CCE references from the SCAP content to populate user interfaces, reports, and exports.

By including CCE references in the content, SCAP supports a wide range of comparison possibilities. Configuration items can be tracked and compared across multiple systems using any combination of SCAP compatible tools. LDSS-FDCC fully supports this concept of interoperability by simply processing the SCAP content as intended.

Exports provided by the LDSS-FDCC include the Tiger.xml format. This format was developed to insulate integrators from the intricacies and evolutions of the SCAP languages. Each configuration check includes the CCE reference, enabling the integrator to easily process SCAP data properly. Tiger was designed to give any product a fast track to SCAP compatibility and validation; CCE is a key ingredient.

CPE Implementation

LDSS-FDCC includes automated support for the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) standard. CPE provides a standard notation and reference to operating systems and applications. An operating system can be referred to in many different ways such as "Windows XP" vs. "Microsoft Windows XP". CPE introduces a standard notation, such as "cpe:/o:microsoft:windows_xp" and "cpe:/a:microsoft:ie:7", enabling products to share SCAP results without pre-coordinating operating system and application references.

The SCAP data stream provides OVAL-based checks that precisely determine whether or not a benchmark applies to a network asset. Compatible tools can use these tests to decide whether or not to assess a benchmark; they can also use this check to filter the list of available benchmarks for a selected network asset. LDSS-FDCC executes the CPE check to automatically select benchmarks that are applicable to a target system. The user simply defines a network asset to assess, and LDSS-FDCC automatically determines which benchmarks to assess. The user can introduce or remove any benchmark at will; the product applies all available and applicable benchmarks to the target. The LDSS-FDCC report and export files also include the applicable operating system or application CPE reference.

CVSS Implementation

LDSS-FDCC provides support for the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). CVSS represents a standardized approach to measuring the impacts of IT vulnerabilities. Each CVE includes an associated CVSS vector for use in calculating the relative severity of vulnerabilities. The SCAP data stream currently uses a flat scoring methodology, giving all compliance checks the same "weight" (level of importance). These weights are compatible with CVSS scoring. NIST, through their National Vulnerability Database (NVD), plans to include CVSS vectors and scores for each CCE compliance item. That will enable LDSS-FDCC to provide a more informative view of the relative impact of mis-configuration issues. Likewise, the product libraries include a CVSS calculator which can be used to calculate a score (from 0 to 10) given a CVSS vector. The XML transform for the Tiger.xml output also includes links to the NVD to view the CVSS vectors, giving the user access to the online CVSS calculator hosted at NIST.

XCCDF Implementation

LDSS-FDCC includes seamless support for the eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF). XCCDF specifies system settings for automated tools to assess. XCCDF specifies what to check. It is the primary protocol required to process the SCAP data stream. The Secutor XCCDF interpreting engine has been exercised by thousands of users in hundreds of Federal Agencies, hundreds of commercial sites, and over fifty countries. Compliance checklist content, like those developed by NIST for the Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), is written in the standard XCCDF format. These files are included with LDSS-FDCC and are used by the product to generate the groups and lists of rules to be checked. The product then uses information from the XCCDF file to perform the assessment as specified in the accompanying Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL) file. LDSS-FDCC generates and displays assessment results in a browser using XML transforms. Reports and export are also based on the structure and content of the XCCDF benchmark.

OVAL Implementation

LDSS-FDCC includes fully integrated support for the Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL) standard. OVAL specifies a standardized approach for assessing each system setting. While XCCDF describes what to check, OVAL specifies how to perform the check. LDSS-FDCC includes a mature commercial OVAL interpreter. The OVAL interpreter was engineered to assess local computers and remote targets using agentless 'over the wire' technology. LDSS-FDCC automatically processes the OVAL definition content as referenced in the XCCDF file to perform assessment activities. LDSS-FDCC has an option to bypass the XCCDF file and process OVAL vulnerability content files to perform vulnerability assessments.