The Apache web server must set an inactive timeout for sessions.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-214296	SRG-APP-000295-WSR-000134	AS24-U2-000660	SV-214296r1043182_rule	2025-02-12	2

Description
Leaving sessions open indefinitely is a major security risk. An attacker can easily use an already authenticated session to access the hosted application as the previously authenticated user. By closing sessions after a set period of inactivity, the Apache web server can make certain that those sessions that are not closed through the user logging out of an application are eventually closed. Acceptable values are 5 minutes for high-value applications, 10 minutes for medium-value applications, and 20 minutes for low-value applications.

Description

Leaving sessions open indefinitely is a major security risk. An attacker can easily use an already authenticated session to access the hosted application as the previously authenticated user. By closing sessions after a set period of inactivity, the Apache web server can make certain that those sessions that are not closed through the user logging out of an application are eventually closed. Acceptable values are 5 minutes for high-value applications, 10 minutes for medium-value applications, and 20 minutes for low-value applications.

ℹ️ Check
In a command line, run "httpd -M \| grep -i Reqtimeout_module". If the "Reqtimeout_module" is not enabled, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file: # apachectl -V \| egrep -i 'httpd_root\|server_config_file' -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd" -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf" Load the "Reqtimeout_module". Set the "RequestReadTimeout" directive.