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SOCLE-CLD-PKG-067// Packagesmediuminventory state

Install openscap-scanner Package

Ensures the openscap-scanner package (the oscap SCAP compliance/vulnerability tool) is installed.

Checked against what is installed or registered, packages present/absent, account databases.

A pass proves✓ running now✓ on disk✓ survives rebootthe qualified verdict →
FedoraRHEL 10 / Rocky 10 / AlmaLinux 10RHEL 8 / Rocky 8 / AlmaLinux 8CIS 4.0.0RHEL 9 / Rocky 9 / AlmaLinux 9CIS 2.0.0

Why this rule matters

The openscap-scanner package provides the oscap command-line tool, a configuration and vulnerability scanner capable of performing compliance checking using SCAP content. Having it installed lets the host participate in automated, repeatable security baselines and vulnerability assessments. (Note: Pavois itself audits the effective configuration with CINC/InSpec and never uses oscap as an engine, this control simply ensures the tooling required by RHEL benchmarks is present.)

What Pavois checks

Pavois asks the package manager whether openscap-scanner is installed via the InSpec package resource (effectively rpm -q openscap-scanner). Querying installed-package state directly confirms the oscap binary is actually present, rather than assuming it from the existence of SCAP data streams on disk.

describe package('openscap-scanner') do
  it { should be_installed }
end

How to verify it is applied

Run rpm -q openscap-scanner. The expected output is a versioned package name such as openscap-scanner-1.3.x-.... The tool can then be confirmed with oscap --version.

Inspect & investigate

  • rpm -q openscap-scanner, confirms the package is installed.
  • rpm -qi openscap-scanner, shows install date and source repository.
  • oscap --version, proves the scanner binary runs.

Remediation

Pavois's harden plan declares a package resource for openscap-scanner with action install and applies it with pavois harden apply, which runs dnf install openscap-scanner under the hood. No service restart is required.

Pavois applies this with its own harden engine, the plan below, not a shell script:

actioninstall
nameopenscap-scanner
resourcepackage
pavois harden plan local

where the target is local, a user@host SSH alias, or a container , Docs

Impact & precautions

Installing openscap-scanner is non-disruptive: it only adds a scanning tool and changes no running service, so there is essentially no rollback risk. The only considerations are the disk footprint and pulling SCAP content (e.g. scap-security-guide) separately if you intend to run scans.

Sources & references