quick-secure
A script to quickly harden UNIX/Linux system permissions and ownership for security compliance and standardization.
What is quick-secure?
Quick NIX Secure Script is a bash script that hardens UNIX/Linux systems by securing basic permissions and ownership. It helps system administrators quickly apply security configurations to meet industry compliance baselines and standardize system security across deployments.
System administrators, DevOps engineers, and security professionals managing UNIX/Linux systems in production environments who need to quickly apply security hardening and reduce compliance findings.
It provides a lightweight, fast alternative to full configuration management tools for basic security hardening, with built-in influences from major compliance frameworks like DISA STIGs and NIST.
Overview
Quickly secure UNIX/Linux systems
Use Cases
Best For
- Quickly securing new system deployments during bootstrapping or kickstart
- Automating basic security hardening in cron jobs for ongoing compliance
- Hardening Docker containers during image builds
- Standardizing permissions across multiple UNIX/Linux systems
- Reducing CAT I-III findings from security audits
- Applying security configurations without complex Puppet or Ansible setups
Not Ideal For
- Environments with modern Linux distributions not listed, such as CentOS 8 or Ubuntu 20.04, as the script only supports older versions up to RHEL 6 and Ubuntu 13.04.
- Teams requiring comprehensive security hardening that includes network, firewall, and kernel-level configurations, since it focuses solely on basic permissions and ownership.
- Organizations using infrastructure as code tools like Terraform or CloudFormation, where integrated configuration management and declarative state are preferred over script-based approaches.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Can be deployed with a single curl command, making it quick to set up in various scenarios like bootstrapping or Docker builds, as shown in the README.
Influenced by major security frameworks like DISA STIGs and NIST, helping reduce CAT I-III audit findings for basic permissions, per the industry compliance section.
Does not set umasks, ensuring compatibility with existing applications without disruption, as highlighted in the philosophy and usage notes.
Can be run on-the-fly, via cron jobs, or during container builds, offering multiple automation options demonstrated in the usage examples.
Cons
Only supports older versions like RHEL 5-6 and Ubuntu 10-13, which are no longer secure or maintained, limiting its usefulness for modern deployments.
Focuses solely on permissions and ownership, omitting broader hardening aspects like SELinux, firewalls, or kernel parameters, as admitted by the author seeking better hardening for Ubuntu.
As a simple bash script, it doesn't provide idempotency, audit trails, or integration with tools like Ansible, making it less suitable for complex or evolving environments.
Frequently Asked Questions
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