macOS
TMA-MACOS14-4.2
Ensure HTTP Server Is Disabled
Description
macOS used to have a graphical front-end to the embedded Apache web server in the operating system. Personal web sharing could be enabled to allow someone on another computer to download files or information from the user's computer. Personal web sharing from a user endpoint has long been considered questionable, and Apple has removed that capability from the GUI. Apache, however, is still part of the Operating System and can be easily turned on to share files and provide remote connectivity to an end-user computer. Web sharing should only be done through hardened web servers and appropriate cloud services. Web serving should not be done from a user desktop. Dedicated web servers or appropriate cloud storage should be used. Open ports make it easier to exploit the computer.
How it is checked
Audit method: Shell command
out=$(/bin/launchctl list 2>/dev/null) || exit 1
printf '%s\n' "$out" | /usr/bin/grep -c 'org.apache.httpd' || true- Expected output
0
How it is fixed
Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch
Terminal Method: Run the following command to disable the HTTP server services: % /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl stop % /usr/bin/sudo /bin/launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist
Properties
- Operating systems
- macos-14
- Tags
- macossonoma
- Reference
- CIS Apple macOS 14.0 Sonoma Benchmark v3.1.0 - 4.2 Ensure HTTP Server Is Disabled
Check this host
Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.
tmaegis scan --target macos