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Enable page poisoning in GRUB kernel parameters

grub-page-poison · RHEL ≥ 8 · 1 impl

Description

The page_poison=1 kernel parameter must be set to enable memory page poisoning. This fills freed pages with a poison pattern to detect and prevent use-after-free attacks.

Rationale

Page poisoning overwrites freed memory with a known pattern, causing crashes when use-after-free vulnerabilities are triggered instead of allowing exploitation. This makes kernel memory corruption bugs more detectable and harder to exploit.

Check → Remediate

Checkgrub_parameter
key:
page_poison
expected:
1
Remediategrub_parameter_set
key:
page_poison
value:
1

Framework references

STIG

V-230277 / RHEL-08-010421V-257793 / RHEL-09-212040V-281302 / RHEL-10-701000

NIST 800-53

CM-6SC-4

Live verification

rhel10:checkrhel8:check
#grub#kernel#memory#security#boot